Chance of a Millennium Arc 2
by Enigmatic Magus
Summary: With their adventures in Azeroth concluded, Serenity and her wayward friends from the future return to the Silver Millennium to combat a threat both familiar and malign. Can two fans prevent the fall depicted in Sailor Moon? Find out in Arc 2!
1. Chapter 1

The palace was in an uproar. Hours ago, two invaders had appeared out of nowhere, bypassing hundreds of barriers, both mundane and magical, along with something that continued to baffle the people called in to study it. Senshi Mercury was en route, but it would be some time before she arrived, and there was a far more pressing issue at stake.

Queen Serenity was missing. The two invaders were, as well. All-in-all, it painted a rather problematic picture.

"Have the guards begin a sweep of the outlying region," Chancellor Locksley ordered. Since being informed of the Queen's missing status, she'd started tearing the palace apart looking for the sovereign.

"I've a company of men standing by to do that, but the moment they're out there, the people are going to know something's up. Won't take them long to guess," the Captain of the Royal Guard replied.

"With the way the Palace is lit up, I'm sure they're guessing what's up already. Won't be long before Earth takes notice," she growled.

Before he could respond, there was a flash of light from the doorway nearby. Marcus drew his sword and made his way down the hall slowly. The Medical Chambers had been checked thoroughly, but because that was the last place Serenity had been seen by loyal members of the Palace staff, it was a restricted area until a proper investigative team could arrive from Mars to inspect it.

For Serenity, this was a much-desired homecoming. Her kingdom was under attack, and she had hated being away, even knowing as she did that time was malleable enough to prevent her absence from being anything more than momentary.

She frowned at the condition of the medical chambers around her, however. Cabinets and cupboards were opened, their contents hap-hazardously strewn about the room, and it looked like the healer on duty had abandoned his station.

"Well, this place has seen better days," Kyle said, before looking around rapidly. "Umm... Where's Matt?"

Serenity looked around as well, her frown deepening. "I... don't know. He was close, but the spell that _thing _cast right before we left interfered with the spell that brought us here..."

"Lady Serenity!" Someone said from the hallway, drawing both their attention. Marcus looked as his sovereign in shock, before glancing at the stranger beside her and frowning. Black and red armor that left all but the barest amounts of skin on the arms exposed, and a hood that hid all but a pair of glowing red eyes.

"So, thought you could get away with kidnapping the queen, did you?" he growled, even as the figure reached up to pull back it's hood. With his head exposed, Marcus recognized one of the two men they'd found out in the courtyard, and he held his sword up, preparing for a fight.

"Stand down, Captain," Serenity spoke, sighing. She was relieved to see Marcus; gladdened even. But his zeal for service sometimes sapped his good sense. Knowing Kyle, her Captain of the Guard would stand little chance in a fight. Maybe in a duel, where the odds were altered to ensure fairness; but in combat, Kyle rarely fought fairly.

"Highness? You've returned!" A new voice said, before a petit-yet-rotund woman cried, slipping in past the Captain of the Guard. She wore an elaborate feathered turban on her head, and Kyle winced at the large red circle dyed into her robes. It was like a target, and she even wore a badge in the center of it, like some tin-plated bull's-eye.

When Chancellor Locksley's eyes fell on the rogue, they narrowed. "Kidnapper! Guards!"

Serenity sighed again. Chancellor Locksley was an important member of her staff, but if Captain Marcus was prone to bouts of zealotry, Locksley was prone to periods of paranoia. Admittedly, before her visit to Azeroth, she'd disappeared for a week before coming back and claiming she'd been kidnapped, but the palace guards had quietly informed curious parties that she'd been locked inside her room for the week, occasionally climbing out the window in the middle of the night to drink in one of the local bars just outside the palace walls.

"Chancellor, Kyle here is a friend of mine. Without him, I'd be..." She paused, not wanting to frighten her staff needlessly. Finally, she settled on "in a far worse situation."

The Chancellor stared at Serenity in shock for a moment, before breaking into tears. "Oh, you poor dear! He's confused your mind!"

"I came as quick as I coul- Who's that?" A new voice asked.

Serenity stared. What was Senshi Uranus doing here?

"He's a kidnapper! He's brainwashed the Queen!" The Chancellor wailed.

"Is that so?" The Outer Senshi asked, scowling. The room had only one exit, she and the Captain of the Guard were effectively blocking it. With a flourish, she drew the Space Sword, its jeweled blade glinting in the white light of the medical chamber.

"... Riiight..." Kyle deadpanned, turning to Serenity. "_This_ is what you were so eager to return to?"

Serenity was torn between laughing at the question, or berating him for his lack of decorum before others. She was also pleased to see such a beloved friend, even if she was far from her designated post. Finally, she settled on another sigh. "He's not a kidnapper. He's a... An ally."

"See! He's twisted her thoughts! He admits to having taken her and keeping her from returning to us, and our Queen calls him an ally! She's been corrupted!" The Chancellor cried, before turning to Uranus. "Senshi! You have to save her! Subdue her before he can convince her to do something she'd regret! Captain, take him out!"

Uranus looked between the Chancellor, her Queen, and the unidentified person standing unnervingly close to Serenity. Especially unnerving because he had moved when speaking, and inadvertently exposed a pair of deadly looking blades at his waist, both glowing with magic.

"Belay that," Serenity ordered, no longer amused. The Chancellor had, in recent times been acting somewhat contrary to her typical self, but that... had she honestly just ordered one of her Guardians to subdue her Queen?

"Captain?" Uranus muttered, unsure what exactly to make of the sudden tension that suffused the room.

"It's... an odd situation," Marcus said.

Kyle just started laughing. "Oh, this is just..." he trailed off, before looking at Serenity with a grin. "Let me guess, the Chancellor has been acting somewhat strange lately, maybe odd trips outside the castle, or behaving contrary to what once was usual?"

Serenity's eyes narrowed, this time focusing on her Chancellor, who was no longer crying, but openly glaring at Kyle and herself. "Actually, now that you mention it-"

"Lies! The foul magus further corrupts the Queen before our very eyes!" The Chancellor hissed.

"Nope! I'm Queen Serenity's friend. One of two, actually," Kyle said, not bothered by the way Uranus or Marcus tightened their grips on their weapons as he motioned towards their Queen. "Oh, and that's not the Chancellor."

Uranus was the first to respond. "... What?"

Kyle shrugged, before turning his back on them to examine the room again as he spoke. Of course, when his back was turned, he slipped a throwing blade into his hands, but concealed it from view as he elaborated. "That's some shape-shifting or form-stealing monster. The real Chancellor is probably trapped in a trunk in her room. This one is some agent of the enemy intent on sewing discord and strife at best."

"At best?" Captain Marcus asked, even as the Chancellor sputtered.

"Well, from this, it might have been trying to assume control of the Empire, intent on bringing it down from the inside," Kyle offered.

"That's-" Uranus started, about to say 'crazy,' when a shriek of rage made her turn in shock.

"HOW DID YOU KNOW!" The Chancellor screeched, even as her form distended, becoming far less human, and much taller.

"Holy shit, I was right?" Kyle muttered, before speaking louder. "My, what big teeth you have," he snarked, before swinging. Uranus, who'd been watching the monster in surprise, heard something whistling in the air, before the youma's head snapped back, a thin blade appearing in its eye.

"You'll all die!" It hissed, even as dark ichor dribbled from the ruined eye socket. Before anyone else could react, the youma kicked out, sending Uranus flying into Captain Marcus, both hitting the floor with a crash as the monster took off down the hall.

"By your leave?" Kyle asked with a smirk, even as he pulled the daggers at his waist. Serenity gave a curt nod, before striding forward. Uranus and Marcus were already pulling themselves to their feet when Kyle slipped past them.

"Uranus!" Serenity said, freezing the senshi and guard captain in their tracks. "Observe and assist only if necessary. Captain Marcus, come with me. And bring your guards."

"At once, Lady Serenity! Where are we headed?" Marcus asked. He'd wanted to go after the monster that had dared parade around the castle disguised as one of its inhabitants, but his loyalty to the Queen overrode his need for revenge.

"To the Chancellor's quarters," Serenity answered, before turning and heading down the hallway in the indicated direction.

Uranus emerged into the Royal Gardens ready for a fight. She'd heard her Queen's command, but seriously doubted the figure in red would have much luck. Attacks on planetary centers around the system by these things had required concentrated attacks from the Mage corps, if not Senshi intervention to bring them down.

Of course, she was surprised to see the monster strolling away unimpeded, the figure nowhere to be found.

"So. Uranus," Kyle asked, fading into existence beside her as he spoke. She leaped back, brandishing her sword and only barely suppressing the attack that had been on her tongue.

"DON'T DO THAT!"

"Sorry. I've just... never fought a youma before. Not sure what it would take to kill one. Figured it might be easier if we worked together," he replied. The monster had stopped its escape attempt as a number of guards surrounded it. For a moment, none of the figures across the gardens moved, then the youma struck, and an armored body went flying.

"I have orders to observe. If you require help, I'll intervene, if-" She was cut off by an upraised hand. This civilian silenced her? Just who did he think he was?

"I get it, yeah. Okay. Thanks for nothing, then," he muttered, before fading from view again. Actually, now that she had watched it, he'd merely faded. he was still visible, but easily overlooked, despite that gaudy armor. She frowned as he sprinted towards the youma tossing guards around, before moving to follow.

"Useless Senshi, a plot out of Chrono Trigger, and no back up," Kyle grumbled to himself. With a lunge, his blade connected, breaking stealth as he employed a move he'd used only hours ago on a dragon far larger than this. The youma howled as its leg collapsed under it, the strike severing ligaments even as the wounds spurted a black ichor over the ground nearby.

"You two!" Kyle yelled at the nearest guards with a sword and board, "charge its leg from the side!"

The two looked at him in surprise, having seen the red-dressed figure appear out of nowhere to strike the monster tossing them around with a crippling blow. "NOW" The figure roared, and they complied, the order making enough sense, and the voice being commanding enough to override their suspicions. That, and he'd already wounded the monster.

As those two charged, Kyle lunged, catching the youma at the waist in a diving tackle that hit at the same time the two guards rushed its knee from the side. With a wet crack, the joint was ruined, and the youma fell to the garden grounds with a screech.

Pulling his arm free, Kyle turned to look at the rest of the guards, who were staring at the spectacle in surprise. "Well what are you waiting for? Kill it!" He roared, and they hustled to comply. In a matter of moments, the youma, who had n too pre-occupied with its debilitating injuries, had been dispatched.

Kyle pulled his daggers from the corpse, frowning at the ichor that dripped from the blades for a moment before wiping them off on the nearby ground. Then, with a flourish, he re-sheathed the blades and turned back to the castle.

"So, how did you know?" Uranus asked, standing in his way with her arms crossed.

Kyle shrugged, and slid around her as he spoke. "Seen it before, Senshi Useless."

"That's Uranus!" the Senshi growled, as she stomped into the palace after him. "And just who are you, anyway?"

Kyle reached up to pull his hood back over his head. The enchantments in it worked whether it was up or not, but for appearances-sake, the red eyes and hidden features made for a far more sinister look than with the hood down. "I'm Batman," he growled, doing his best to contain his laughter. That was the other reason he'd pulled the hood up. Then, with a mocking salute, he disappeared before her.

* * *

Matt was in a lot of pain. He'd been conscious as Kyle had picked him up off the frozen ground of Icecrown, and remembered the pain as his friend had managed to aggravate a broken rib by throwing him over his shoulders, even as his head swum around him and something hot and stinging oozed into his eye.

Then there was a twisting sensation, a flash of light, and he'd felt himself tumbling for what felt like hours, before hitting a stone floor at an angle and sliding a couple feet before running into something that gave way only partly.

Of course, he had no time at all to consider trying to heal himself or going back to sleep when something slammed into him with all the gentleness of a freight train. Even worse, whatever it was had to be magical. It bypassed his armor completely, and impacting him so completely it felt like his soul had just been pierced.

With a howl of pain, he finally found the strength to crawl to his feet, head spinning, even as the people around him began shouting at each other and him in a language he didn't understand.

His body felt like it was on fire. With another yell, he slung his sword and put his hands out before him like battering rams before taking off for the nearest doorway. Most of the figures in his way wisely moved, but a few who apparently wanted to call his bluff were hurled away by fear- and pain-fueled strength.

Choosing his path at random, Matt watched through injury-hazed eyes as the world moved around him, his arms listlessly shoving obstacles away until he found himself outside, staring over the parapets of an impressively large castle with a moat below. Of course, dizzy as he was, leaning over to look down at the moat was just as bad an idea as the few watching would have made it out to be, and with a wince, he tumbled down into the brown waters, taking a moment to regain himself before crawling out of the moat slowly and stumbling off into the nearby forest.

When one of the people who'd been ruthlessly shoved aside by the madman managed to make it to where Matt had last been seen, he was gone. As the figure turned to the guards who had watched him fall and began berating them, Matt stumbled through the woods, delirious, soaked, tired, and broken, and looking for any sign of his missing friends.

* * *

Serenity felt a headache coming on. Matt was still missing, her advisor here in the Silver Millennium for the past few weeks (barring an extra-dimensional trip that lasted over two-years there) had been an enemy agent, and now it seemed Kyle and Uranus were close to going for each other's throats. With a sigh, she looked at the two glaring at each other from across the table, before slamming her hand down on the table with enough force to make the candle-ware jump. "Enough!"

The two stopped to look at her in surprise. "Senshi Uranus, I trust Kyle as much as I trust you. To question his presence is to question me." The senshi's complaints died on her tongue.

"And Kyle," Serenity started, leveling her most annoyed gaze at him as she continued; "I know you know better. Do you really wish to give your co-workers a bad impression so soon?"

Kyle sighed, collapsing back in his chair. "No, Serenity... My Lady." He winced as he remembered to add a title. Fortunately, everyone seemed to accept it as a proper form of address.

"Co-worker?" Uranus asked, frowning.

"Again, this is a matter of trust, Senshi Uranus. And, as it so happens, a matter of needs, as well. But I'll get to that later; Captain Marcus! What did you find out from the Chancellor?"

The Captain, who had been quietly watching the proceedings with interest, stepped forward. "Majesty, the Chancellor was taken two weeks ago on her fact-finding trip to Mars. Since then, the imposter kept her tied up in her trunk and only fed her when it remembered to. There was no questioning, no attempts to learn anything specific," he summarized, frowning.

Serenity frowned as well. They both knew what that meant. "There's another agent in the castle," she said, earning a nod from the Captain, the Senshi, and the rogue. "We'll have to deal with that. And soon," she finally said, before turning to the Captain again. "What of the Chancellor herself?"

"She rests, Highness. The ordeal was... trying, and she was poorly cared for as a captive," he finally explained.

Serenity made a mental note to go see her soon. "Very well. What of the guards searching the castle? Any word of my second companion?"

Marcus shook his head. "No word, ma'am. However, the security station monitoring the castle wards report that there were only two breaches at the time you and... Lord?" He paused, watching Kyle for a response, before continuing haltingly, "Kyle arrived. Your return was, or course, registered as such, as well as one 'unknown.' If the person you seek _did_ return with you, it is safe to assume he is not on the premises."

Kyle, for his part, had almost cracked a smile as the Captain attempted to place him within the hierarchy as he knew it. The thought of Matt still missing, however, stole the mirth from his mind before it could fully register.

"Extend the search to the city," Serenity said, before frowning, "Actually, extend it to Mars and Venus, and monitor the ambassador from Earth," she ordered.

"Should I inform our people on Earth as well?" Marcus asked, frowning.

Serenity shook her head. "Not just yet. He arrived as we did, and I saw enough to know it was relatively close, and into a place of power. Earth has relatively few magical hotspots."

Marcus nodded, before stepping out the door.

"Now, as for you two... there's work to be done, but first, I have to ask; how'd it go?"

Uranus was shocked. She'd seen Serenity like this before. Even participated in friendly conversations with her queen with little formality. But for her queen to act this way in front of a stranger? "It... Went well, your majesty," She finally said.

Kyle sighed, before collapsing back into his chair. "Yeah. 'Well.' Sailor _Useless_ here sat back as I and your guards took down the imposter."

Serenity just nodded. "And your thoughts, Senshi Uranus?"

Uranus frowned, glancing at the man seated across from her, then at her queen, who was watching her intently. Finally, she spoke. "He's got some fancy tricks, but seems only a little more capable than your average guard. Also very little honor in combat; not that a monster would have bothered calling him on it."

"Oh?" Serenity asked, hiding her smirk, "explain."

Uranus frowned, feeling like she'd stumbled into a trap somehow. "His blows were designed to cripple, and came from the rear as his opponent ran. He sought outside assistance instead of finishing off the wounded youma on his own, and, thinking back, he also attacked the youma without either your permission, or announcing his intent."

Kyle leaned forward, holding his hands up to get everyone's attention. "Okay, wait, stop. I have to interject here; do you _really_ expect me to do all that when fighting something that intends to kill everyone you know and love and bring this empire to ruin? If so, I'm not sure what help I can be, Serenity." He paused to look out the window mounted high on the wall across from him. "Aside from suggesting you start working now on writing an impressive will."

Uranus growled, but Serenity held up her hand. "He speaks his mind, as I have asked you to. And where we returned from, his methods of fighting was some of the most feared in the world."

"Where were you?" Uranus asked, looking him over again. Then she frowned. "And if he was feared, I'm surprised they haven't been overtaken yet."

Kyle shrugged. "I've yet to show you some of my better tricks, Senshi. And in a fair fight, you're right, I'd probably get my ass handed to me. But, as you pointed out, I don't fight fair. I fight to win."

"There's a difference between fighting to win and fighting fairly?" Uranus asked haughtily.

Kyle just shrugged again. "A fair fight is a farce. In a battle to the death, you don't cripple yourself to make it more sporting, and you don't give your enemy an advantage to make it more fair. Your use whatever trick you have, from poisoned blades to hidden ranged attackers to ensure that your enemy falls and you stay standing. To not do so is to endanger yourself, those under your command, and everything you're trying to protect. Or do you honestly think a monster like the one I just fought would begin a fight with a bow and a concession to terms?"

Uranus scowled, but didn't reply. Instead, Serenity spoke up again. "Interesting as this conversation may turn out, I have to move things along. Uranus, you said he 'sought outside assistance.' What did you mean?"

Uranus shrugged. "When the monster was crippled, instead of moving in and taking it out himself, he called..." She paused, then frowned. "Actually, he _ordered_ the guards nearby to strike with another crippling blow, before he and a few more guards moved in for the kill."

Serenity grinned. "Is this true?" She asked Kyle, who shrugged.

"You know me. When I say 'jump...'"

"- They ask 'how high?'" The Queen finished. Then she let loose a short laugh. "It would seem your idea has merit indeed. What are your thoughts on my guards?"

Kyle frowned. "Hmm... I'd call them 'ornamental,' if they hadn't listened. As it is..." he paused, and both Serenity and Uranus leaned forward to hear his assessment. Finally he shrugged. "Ornamental."

"Care to elaborate?" Captain Marcus growled from the doorway. He'd returned from running the errand for his queen, and returned in time to hear this stranger dismiss his guards so utterly?

Kyle took a deep breath. "Well, for starters, they're all equipped the same from what I've seen. Sword and board is great, but without the ability to strike from range, you're at the enemy's mercy if they have any mages or archers. Secondly, they listened to me. Good for me, but it means their discipline is not up to par. Finally, there was fear and uncertainty in their eyes as the faced that youma."

"And there wasn't in yours?" Uranus asked.

Kyle shot her a withering grin, "I've fought a dragon as big as this palace's main hall. No, I wasn't afraid. But they were. I can only assume that they're used to letting you Senshi take care of things like that, and they're more used to dealing with the more mundane issues."

"And you expect my men to take on monsters like that?" Marcus asked, frowning.

"Why not? Their job is to protect the palace, isn't it?" Kyle asked back.

"But they can't possibly win against something like that!" Marcus retorted.

Kyle sighed and pulled his dagger, ignoring the way Uranus and Marcus tensed as he did so. "With this blade, I crippled the monster. And with your soldiers' help, it was killed. Do your men stand a chance against the monsters one-on-one? Not likely. But in numbers... Well, as they say back where I'm from: 'quantity is a quality of its own.'"

"And just where are you from?" Uranus asked.

Kyle just sighed as he looked back up at the window, and the blue-green planet partially visible beyond.

* * *

Matt awoke with a start, bright sunlight reaching through the gaps in the trees above to strike his muddied armor. One ray of light struck his helmet at just the right angle for it to shine in his eyes, eliciting a groan from the weary paladin.

Annoyed, and a little confused, Matt sat up. When the world failed to dance around him, he frowned. He was still tired, but he didn't feel nearly as wounded as he had before. He vaguely recalled his exodus from some castle, but now, he had no clue where he was. The forest around him gave him little clue, save that it was temperate, and only by carefully examining his surroundings could he tell which way he had come from. With another groan, and some confusion, he set off in the direction he had been heading before falling asleep, idly wondering if he'd be able to get himself a breakfast.

Unfortunately, breakfast was not to be had. He'd had a small water pouch, but midway through the day he'd drunk it, ignoring the thoughts about the mana-restoring properties it had, and relishing the feel of the water on his parched throat. That had been about four hours ago now, and he was really wishing he'd had another.

Finally, there was a sound up ahead, not immediately recognizable, but magical in nature, and he broke into a trot, hoping against hope there was someone with some food and a drink.

Instead, he nearly threw himself off a cliff, source of the distant roar of a waterfall he'd heard earlier now apparent. Before him was a chasm, the misty bottom below shrouded in vapor. To his right, about half a mile, a waterfall plunged into the chasm from a narrow, fast-moving river, and across from him, another cliff that overlooked the chasm and stream below from the opposite side.

But far more impressive was the floating platform that sat halfway up the waterfall. Two smaller platforms orbited it, and on all three, numerous beings stood. From this distance, Matt couldn't make them out clearly, but even from here, he could tell they weren't human.

That was when another magic blast struck the cliff opposite him and exploded, the sound of the blast echoing through the canyon even as the two adversaries darted through the air and threw another series of blasts at each other.

One of the figures was obviously like the ones below and to the right. Inhuman, and giving off a noticeable aura of wrongness that made him instinctively reach for his sword.

The other figure flew by Matt then, unknowingly passing close enough for Matt to feel his breath hitch, and his eyes widen. That uniform, that hair... _That face_. There was no doubt about it. There was a monster... a _youma_ fighting here. And its opponent was Jadeite.


	2. Chapter 2

Jadeite was pissed. Like many of the higher-ups in Earth's ranks, he knew of the incursions and attacks happening around the solar system. While Earth remained separate from Serenity's empire, it would be impossible to cut off all communications, not to mention stupid, so Earth hosted a small embassy to the Moon Kingdom, and, of course, the Moon entertained an ambassador from Earth in Serenity's palace. And because of that, he was aware of the nature of his quarry.

Unlike the monstrosities below, his current opponent was a lithe being with no small magical skill. He'd stumbled across this infestation by accident, seeking the armored man who'd interrupted a magical ceremony last night, and was now fighting against their leader while they prepared to do whatever it was they had set out to do.

While some of the humans of Earth had grown upset with the Moon Kingdom, Jadeite could not think of anyone who would be pleased to learn that an attack on Serenity's kingdom had been staged from Earth.

Even more distressing was the fact that Earth itself hadn't been attacked yet. The Royalty of Earth knew that some of the commoners in the Moon Kingdom saw that as proof enough that Earth was behind the attacks. This would only serve to provide plausible justifiability to those rumors, placing Earth's ambassador in a rather unenviable position. _If_ the enemy got away.

Which was why he was here, busy exchanging bolt after bolt of explosive energy with one of the monster's leaders, in an attempt to kill this group before it could enact whatever dark plans it had for Serenity's people.

Jadeite grinned as one of his bolts hit the target in the back, driving it down towards the ground. He slowed to a hovering stop midair, preparing a more powerful blast to take the foe out, when suddenly the unexpected happened.

* * *

Matt had been watching the fight, and saw the youma take a hit to the back, falling through the sky. Its descent slowed until it was somewhere below him within the chasm and he stepped out of the trees in curiosity. Matt glanced over the edge and immediately spotted the monster trying to regain its altitude.

Without thinking about it, he stepped back, drew his sword, and leapt.

Half-way towards the target, rational thought meekly tapped him on the shoulder and asked if this really was a good idea. He admitted that it probably wasn't, but also pointed out it was too late to do anything about it now. Reflex, the current driver of his functions for the past half a day or so, just grinned and readied the point of his sword to dig into something hopefully fatal, or at least painful.

Unfortunately, rather than taking the youma completely unawares like he'd intended, at the last moment the creature jerked slightly to the left as it somehow sensed the attack from above. This would have proved fatal for Matt had he not adjusted his aim; as it was, he merely impaled the flying creature in the leg rather than the shoulder or neck like he'd intended.

The flying youma's concentration was completely broken and unable to keep them both in the air; with a cry both Matt and the creature plummeted towards the large platform, spiraling out of control.

* * *

Jadeite stopped his attack in shock. It was the natural reaction upon seeing someone attempt to plummet to their doom, but he had to admire that the person seemed dedicated in taking the enemy down with them. Not many people on Earth could use magic; fewer still who could achieve flight during combat. This armor-clad warrior did not appear to have that capability as he slammed into the foe he'd been facing, leaving both to the tender mercies of Earth's brutal gravity.

What kind of reckless idiot leaps from a cliff, anyway?

* * *

From an ease sadly borne of practice, Matt positioned his falling enemy beneath him to better absorb the shock of landing. Mid-air combat was becoming depressingly familiar territory, and unfortunately it was only after he impaled his enemy that he remembered he'd been forced to destroy his parachute earlier. If he survived, he'd have to get that fixed.

With a large squelch Matt made something of an impact on the outer edge of the large floating platform. His armor would need to be cleaned of whatever liquid youma bleed, but at least he made landfall relatively intact. Surprisingly, despite being mostly crushed, the youma he'd used as an impromptu landing pad survived the experience, though it was looking as though it wished it hadn't.

It became clear that while he had indeed managed to not die from his incredibly stupid (yet totally awesome) stunt, his chances of surviving whatever fight these creatures could put up were rapidly diminishing as he finally got a full gauge of their number. He was quickly being approached by the outer edges of the force, which numbered in the scores easily, and it was only by the saving grace that he had landed at the edge of the platform that he wasn't immediately surrounded.

One of the more ugly youma stomped over towards him with their fellows, no sign of fear on their faces despite having crushed one of their number. They didn't even react when it mewled pitifully behind him.

"Puny mortal! We're the baddest, most evi-" SHINK! Matt interrupted the speech as best he knew how: by shoving five feet of steel into its vocal cords. The youma quickly disintegrated.

"Coralite! How dar-" SLICE! The backswing took the head off at the neck as his blade was already level with it. Matt brought his two-handed sword back to a ready position with a flourish as he prepared to charge the rest of the group.

Without conscious thought the remaining youma surrounding the intruder retreated far enough to be out of easy reach of the blade and huddled together. They stared at the sword as if it was a living thing; it glowed slightly, and it didn't appear that their normally tough resilience against weapons worked against it. A few of the younger ones whimpered.

A stalemate occurred as Matt realized charging in headfirst would likely leave him terribly out-flanked, and the youmas' admittedly weak survival instincts decided to kick in at the same time, deciding that it was in their best interest not to attempt to attack a man that had killed two of their number in as many seconds.

"The portal is open!" shouted a youma, not in the immediate vicinity, as her task was finally complete.

"Run!" shouted a youma, who was in the immediate vicinity.

This left Matt perplexed for all of five seconds as a vastly superior numerical force ran away from him. He wasn't that much of a bad-ass, was he? He then realized they were running towards a portal, and it was likely that wherever they wherever they were going they would be up to no good.

"Get back here!" Matt cried as he charged.

This only inspired the youma in the back to run faster.

* * *

Kyle was getting restless. Uranus and Captain Marcus were both arguing about him, and Serenity was sitting back, watching the two begin belittling each other as much as they had started with Kyle.

"So, you think they're going to kiss?" Kyle asked Serenity, having slipped into a chair by her side while the others began name-calling.

"Hardly. Uranus views the militia and guards about as ornamental as you do, and Marcus sees the senshi as too aloof and impractical," Serenity responded. "Both know the other's views, too."

Kyle nodded. "Sounds about right."

"Oh? Which part?"

Kyle shrugged. "All of it. The Senshi are overpowered, and the guards are useless. It's like you keep nukes in your arsenal next to bayonets, but nothing in between."

Serenity frowned. "The Senshi can be precise," she protested.

Kyle met her look with a flat stare. "Serenity. You try to tell me how a Dead Scream or World Shaking could be precise."

"Hey!" Uranus shouted, turning on the man standing dangerously close to the queen. She'd heard her attack being named, and judging from the tone, it wasn't being said in a kindly manner.

Whatever she had planned on saying however, died when an explosion shook the walls.

"Another attack?" Captain Marcus asked, before pulling his sword and bellowing. "Sound the alarm!"

"Uranus, go with the Captain and check it out. Kyle, you're with me," Serenity ordered.

Uranus opened her mouth to protest, glaring at Kyle, but Serenity cleared her throat, drawing the senshis attention, and the look in her queen's eyes killed her protest before it could be spoken. With a firm nod, Uranus materialized her weapon and stepped out the door.

"You sure I shouldn't go with them?" Kyle asked, as Serenity strode out the door and towards the main hall.

Serenity nodded stiffly, craning her neck to look around the halls. "I sense something... A presence I've not felt since-"

She was cut off by Kyle's sudden laughter. Ahead, the sound of battle and screams of the dying rang out from the main hall, and he was laughing at her?

Before she could ask, he held up his hand. "It's not what you think, Highness. I'm just laughing at the irony." Kyle suddenly jumped, daggers drawn, and before Serenity could gasp, he had intercepted a charging youma that had appeared in the doorway down the hall, through which the fighting was going on.

Its long claws extended, it had been swinging at the queen when a red-and-black wrapped form had intercepted it with impressive speed. Even more impressive were the glowing daggers that had intercepted the swing and traveled through the youma's wrist like they were as substantial as mist.

With a hideous keening wail, the youma grasped its oozing stump, even as the severed hand bounced once upon the marble floor before disintegrating into dust.

With a growl, Kyle spun, bringing the dagger around his body and using the spin to give it enough momentum that when it struck the youma in the chest, the thick hide and tough bones did little to stop its momentum, even as the strike lifted the youma from the ground. Following through, Kyle trailed the youma to the floor, blade still embedded in its chest, before setting his foot beside the wound and pulling the blade free.

The youma, shocked at the violence and pain, could only gape up at the figure above it, slit-pupiled-eyes widening as the blade that had just been in its chest rising up, before plunging down again.

Serenity's attention was split. She had drawn the Ginzuishou even as Kyle had been moving to intercept the youma, and was now watching the door it had come from and preparing to intercept the next youma with her own magic. Her attention was also on her friend below her, as he quickly used his weapons to end the youma's life.

"Magic works too," Serenity pointed out as the body began disintegrating.

"Yeah, well, I don't happen to have any," Kyle said, before wiggling his dagger at her theatrically. "Besides, decapitation seems to work just fine. And hey!" He held up his gloved hand approvingly. "Their blood dries up when they die!"

Serenity frowned at the dust-covered gloves. "Yes, youma dust is much more sanitary," she deadpanned.

With a shrug, Kyle climbed to his feet, looking down at the dust pile before turning towards the doorway. "Sounds like quite the party."

"Indeed." Serenity frowned as she tightened her grip on the rod that housed the Ginzuishou before turning to him. "You do your thing, then. I'll be right behind you."

Kyle looked at her with a slight frown. "Is that wise?"

Serenity pointed at the opening the youma had come at them from. "My throne room is through that doorway. If it's under attack, then the safety of the palace is utterly compromised." She waved the rod at him with a slight smile. "I'm not nearly as defenseless as you might think. And I know you won't be fighting alone. Go. I can handle the few that get past you."

Kyle watched her for a moment, before nodding. Serenity watched him fade into the shadows, before making her way to the throne room ahead.

For the nobles who'd been visiting the throne room at the time, the battle taking place before them was at once both terrifying and awe-inspiring. Senshi Uranus and Captain Marcus were both laying into the invading youma with broad strikes and magical blasts that felled them by the dozen. Unfortunately, the numbers were against them, and already a few of their numbers had been cut down by the youma that had managed to get past the two protectors.

Now they watched with amazement and fear as the fight continued, wondering who among them might be next.

Then Serenity herself strode through a doorway set in the back of the room. Several youma who had been inching towards the huddled nobles noticed her arrival and charged, all pretenses of subtlety dropped as their primary target appeared.

Then something bizarre happened.

Uranus was just shouting for Serenity to look out when one of the youma fell, striking the floor so quickly it looked as if something had struck it in the back of the head. One beside it suddenly screeched, clawing at its eyes, before a third stiffened up, reaching back and screaming, before a figure appeared behind it, a pair of daggers buried to the hilt in the youma's back.

With a wordless roar, he pulled the daggers outward, tearing open two great wounds that spilled ichor and organs across the marble floor, even as he was moving towards his next target.

No strangers to the brutality of combat, the youma nearest this new annoyance moved in, swinging at the man's head with a set of claws that could disembowel. Wordlessly, the stranger ducked the swipe, reaching up to grab the extended arm a and spinning in and around the youma before it could react. Now standing behind it, the youma's right arm extended and held there by his own right arm, Kyle brought his left hand up under the youma's left elbow, dagger flashing in the overhead light of the chandelier as it met the youma's throat and slid across it.

When the body he held stiffened and moved to clutch the gaping wound, Kyle slipped loose, before grabbing the creature's wild mane of hair and swinging again, taking the head off, before turning and throwing it at another youma before it could disintegrate.

As the body on the floor dissolved, the youma who'd been pelted in the face with the body of its companion stared at Kyle in shock and no small amount of fear. That increased a hundredfold as there was puff of smoke, and the assailant disappeared.

Kyle grinned, feeling the cloak of darkness hiding him from view, even as he ran at the still-stunned youma who was gaping openly at where he'd stood. Pulling loose a spool of wire, he tossed it over the youma's head and pulled, the barbs tearing into the flesh of its neck as he reappeared behind it. Normally, he used the wire to induce bleeding, but he sawed the wire back and forth a couple times rapidly, sending the barbs and wire deeper, before letting go of one end and stuffing it back into the pouch it had been pulled from.

As the wounded youma fell to the floor clutching its ruined throat, he was already moving towards his next target, the youma he'd struck first, who was only now climbing to its feet and rubbing the back of its head where he'd struck it with the butt of his dagger.

Still disoriented, it didn't realize the danger it was in until a hand fell on its shoulder and a blade slipped into its side.

Serenity watched Kyle go to work with a sigh. Uranus and Marcus were, despite their earlier arguing, fighting as a team. Because of this, there was an area around them littered with piles of dust as they fought back to back. This arrangement made them a hard target, and now, the youma had a new target, armed only with a short pair of blades, and nobody to cover his back.

The youma Kyle had blinded with the dust of its comrade was glaring at Kyle's exposed back through blood-shot eyes, and it stepped forward, intending to destroy the being who was even now killing another youma with appalling ease.

Serenity would not allow it. With nary a flourish, she raised the Ginzuishou and let loose a blast of silver light that lanced through the youma and rendered it dust before it could comprehend what was happening.

"Thanks!" Kyle called out, as he ducked another claw swipe, before punching the youma in the face. With a wince, he shook the tingles of pain out of his fist, deciding silently not to try that again.

the next ducked swing, he punched out again, this time a small blade tucked between his fingers puncturing the youma's tough hide, where its wide base stretched the wound and left it open. Intended to induce more bleeding in humans, it had a similar effect on the youma, who shrieked in pain, stepping back and holding a hand to the wound which leaked ichor at a steady rate.

As more youma poured into the palace and ill-equipped guards moved to engage even as other personnel fled in terror, no one noticed some of them seemed to be running _from_ something rather than _towards_ anything in particular. This brief panic on the youma's side went unnoticed as their natural reaction upon seeing easy prey quickly asserted themselves, and they leapt toward the fray with all due ferocity.

Then there was a roar from behind them, far less other-worldly, and Matt strode in, sword swinging.

"I was wondering when you'd show up!" Kyle cried over the din of battle.

Matt smirked. "Well; you know me. I love to make an en-OOMH!" His reply was cut off as a glowing dagger struck his helmet pummel-first with enough speed to knock his head aside.

"What was that for!" Matt protested, even as he tossed the blade back to Kyle.

"As if you don't know! That line is way too overused!"

"Hey, they're classics for a REASON!" Matt shouted as he emphasized his point by impaling another youma. He paused as a thought struck him, which made him grin. He turned to taunt Kyle, "I bet I'll kill more youma than you will!"

"Starting when?" Kyle responded, backing out of range of a rather tall youma's grasp, before punching the blade of his dagger up under its chin.

"Now!" With a sword as deceptively long as the two-handed weapon Matt had expertly wielded for the past several years, it was easy to strike at a distance many thought safe from the whirling blade. Several carefully calculated strikes severed unaware youmas' feet, hands, and necks as he worked to disable those he couldn't immediately reach, in order to finish them off later, and simply annihilate those he could as opportunities presented themselves.

For his part, Kyle leapt towards the nearest youma, every move thought out and intended to kill or set the target up for a killing blow. "One," he muttered as a youma fell to the floor with a bloody hole where its left eye had been. "Two," he intoned softly as another collapsed, a second mouth opened up three inches below the original. "Thre-Hey!' He shouted, pulling his intended victim between him and a lunging youma that towered over the others. The claws that had been about to catch him in the chest instead dove into the youma's, and Kyle released the dying youma even as the larger one pulled its hand free and shook looks the chunks of unidentifiable organs that stuck there.

Before it could attack again, it suddenly roared and reared back, Kyle watching in surprise as the tip of a blade emerged from the youma's chest, a moment before a dark yellow blast of magic exploded out of the sword and took off to impact a second youma. "Is this a two-player sport, or can anyone join?" Senshi Uranus asked as she pulled the Space Sword free of the giant dying youma.

Kyle frowned. "With magic like that? Only at a handicap. You have to beat both our scores combined."

Uranus nodded, before reversing her hold on the weapon and driving it behind her to catch a youma in the stomach. Without a word, another blast from the blade tore it apart. "Fair enough."

"Five!' Kyle shouted, as he pulled is blade from another disintegrating body.

"You're off by one; it doesn't count if you get the youma to kill each other," Matt corrected.

"Seven!" Uranus crowed, a World Shaking sending four piles of dust to the ground.

With a scowl, Kyle slipped around the next youma's swing, grabbing the arm and spinning with it, before shoving the now-whirling youma at a startled Uranus. "If you can throw magic around, you're not fighting hard enough!" he shouted, even as he ducked below a charging youma's outstretched arms, caught it around the waist with his shoulder and introduced its face to the marble floor with as much speed as he could impart.

Before it could regain its senses, a heavy boot fell on the back of its head hard enough to grind bones to dust. "Six," Kyle muttered, before realizing the crowd of youma had been greatly diminished.

"Five and a half!" Matt crowed as he took a youma by stabbing it in the eyes. He looked around for his next opponent and found few opportunities. "Ranks seem to be thinning," he noted.

"Not bad," Uranus muttered, not bothering to pull her blade free as a body fell to dust around it. "Eleven." She dodged another claw, and spun to meet her next opponent.

Finally, three youma remained. Before any of them could move to attack, all three turned and ran out the door.

"So, I got seven," Kyle said, kicking the last pile of dust he'd added to the floor.

"Thirteen," Uranus said with a grin, throwing her sword over her shoulder.

"Six and a half, because Scrappy over there," Matt nodded towards one of the wounded soldiers, who none-the-less looked flush from the combat, "helped hold off one of them long enough for me to get the kill in. I figure he deserves half a youma for that."

"Beat you by half," Kyle joked at Uranus, who was scowling at Matt.

"That can't count! It's a tie!"

"Feh, can't face the fact that you were shown up by a pair of commoners?" Kyle taunted.

"'Commoners' my ass," Uranus said. "You both are far too powerful to be anything less than nobles. And a half a kill means the youma is half alive. And half a life means _not dead_. So it doesn't count."

"Actually, it doesn't matter," Serenity said from her position on the platform that housed her throne. Standing beside her was Captain Marcus, and around them were numerous piles of dust. "The captain covered me while I myself finished off seventeen. That would make me the winner, would it not?"

Kyle straightened up, sheathing his daggers as he did so. "Not that I'm calling you a liar, but there's no way seventeen youma got past us."

Serenity nodded. "Of course not. I was watching all your backs, while the captain had mine."

Matt's eyes crossed. "That makes too much sense."

"There's still three more," Uranus said, motioning towards the door.

"Actually, they're taken care of," A new voice cut in, as a figure in gray walked into the room.

"General Jadeite," Queen Serenity said, surprised.

With a bow of genuine respect, Jadeite responded; "Your Majesty."


	3. Chapter 3

"What brings you here, General? It's rare enough for Earth to come to our defense. For one of the Generals to intervene on our behalf, however, is unheard of."

Jadeite nodded his agreement, before glancing around at the cowering nobles, piles of ashes, and four warriors who guarded the queen with impressive results.

"Indeed, few on Earth even know of your troubles throughout your empire, and fewer still feel they can assist in instances that often require the intervention of the Senshi."

"So I ask again, what brings you here?" Serenity asked, frowning.

Jadeite gestured at the throne room around them. "Unlike the attacks that have happened before,_ this_ one used Earth as a point of departure, and I loathe the thought of such beings using my planet as a staging area." Looking down at a like of ashes, he down at a like of ashes, he scowled. "I abhor the thought of such beings being on my planet in general. Regardless of their intentions."

"Odd coincidence that you stumbled upon their point of departure despite the millions of square miles covering the planet," Kyle shot.

Jadeite turned to examine the young man with a weathered eye. He'd seen a bit of this one's attacks. At range, he was little threat, but up close, he was as violent as he was dangerous. The enchanted blades at his side ensured that his foes would go quickly, but probably in a lot of pain.

"As a matter of fact, it _was_ coincidence. I wasn't in the area looking for youma at all. I was in the area looking for a man who fits your friend's description quite aptly," Jadeite said, pointing at Matt.

"What?" Matt asked, his question echoed by Kyle and Serenity.

"Your friend somehow managed to breach a rather powerfully protected ceremony on Earth. While his attitude and exodus were not openly hostile, there are rather powerful people back on Earth looking to question him. It doesn't help that a certain _artifact _of theirs is now missing."

"Are you calling Matt a thief?" Serenity asked, frowning.

Jadeite shook his head. "Of course not. At the time it went missing, nobody born in your kingdom could do much more than look at it. Only those native to Earth could possess it. My Lord merely wishes to ask for your friend's assistance in recovering it. Popular opinion is that it was lodged into his impressive armor somewhere, before falling lose during his flight."

Jadeite paused to look over the armor then, only now realizing just how impressive it was. The gold, black and red managed to look more imposing than gaudy, and even through the dried mud, youma dust, and other debris, it showed no signs of actual damage. Even more impressive was the hood, which hid the man's face, but glowed with an inner light where his eyes were, giving the ensemble a piercing gaze that was as unreadable as it was intimidating. It truly was impressive. Especially considering how rare personalized armor was off of Earth. he knew a few people back home who would kill for something as impressive.

"I must ask, who crafted your armor? I don't recognize the style, and I've seen my fair share of armor crafters throughout the system," Jadeite finally asked.

"Our armor is from a planet much farther away than any you are likely to be familiar with, General," Kyle said, once again earning the General's attention. Jadeite frowned in thought. Unlike the shining plate the warrior wore, this one's armor looked at a glance like blood-soaked strips of black leather. it was only after looking more closely that he could see individual layers tucked tightly into one another, the softened leather not making a sound as it flowed with ever breath and every move, stretching and contracting to keep the body within tightly armored and protected. Where the plate armor practically radiated a sense of Justice and Strength, this one literally gave off a light black miasma that inspired caution and unease. Having seen the man within move, the feeling was warranted.

"I can believe that," Jadeite finally replied with a small grin. "If I thought I'd have any chance at all, I'd ask for some myself. The craftsmanship is exquisite." With a dramatic shrug, he turned to Serenity. "In any case, while I am here, I must request that your guest here be returned to Earth for a time while we work to recover what we've lost."

Serenity shook her head. "I'm afraid that your request must be denied at this time. As you saw, Matt, along with Kyle here, are both some of the most powerful fighters to come to my aid, and both are central to certain plans I intend to announce."

"I see," Jadeite replied, looking around the room before sighing. "Might I inquire what those plans are? If I am to return with bad news, I would like to offer up something to lighten the sting."

Serenity nodded. "Of course. The Moon Kingdom and Earth have been allies throughout our existence. Were it not for these troubled times, I'd not only loan you Matt, but come along with him to assist you in whatever matter for which you would call upon him."

Jadeite winced. He knew what the procedure was, and there were literally seven others in existence who should know, all of them on Earth. Somehow, Serenity also knew. "That... is quite generous, Your Majesty," he hemmed.

Serenity nodded at him, smiling slightly. He knew that she knew, and she knew he'd go running to his masters to tell them that as soon as she dismissed him. Not that she didn't like the General; he was one of the few people from Earth who didn't act entitled, as if the power of the Silver Millennium had been taken from Earth and now her Empire owed Earth and all its inhabitants. She'd fought hard to establish her Kingdom, thousands of years before those on Earth had even had contact with her Empire. And all the while, Earth had been benefiting from the protection her Empire had give it from external threats.

Jadeite was a rare pleasure to work with, unlike Earth's true Ambassador, so she felt it fitting to send the news to Earth via the General, if only to see the Ambassador bristle at being bypassed by fate's fickle intervention.

"Friends, Nobles, Guests!" Serenity called out, drawing the attention of everyone within the Throne room. A few heads poked in through open doorways, as well, and she nodded once she felt everyone's attention on her. "I've an announcement to make. As many of you saw, this most recent of attacks on our beloved Empire was thwarted by the hard work of many, and the lives lost, sad as it is, would have been much greater had these brave souls not intervened when they did."

She paused as she spoke, looking over the gathering crowd, before nodding towards Senshi Uranus. "As always, my Senshi stand between the people who live here, and the threats that seek to end our way of life. Behind them, protecting the people at the cost of their own lives, stands the Militia, who are to be honored always for their sacrifices.

Serenity then turned to her two newest friends. "It has come to my attention however, that between the Senshi and the Militia lies a gap in which a threat too powerful for the hard working militia might arise, but the closest Senshi is unable to respond to in an acceptable amount of time. After all, the duties of the Senshi are many, and their numbers ever so few."

"Because of this," Serenity went on, "I have decided to create a new force; one not charged with keeping the general peace like the planetary militias and royal guards, but a team of rapid-responders, ready to go at a moment's notice! When a situation exists that could overwhelm the Militias, and the Senshi cannot arrive in time to protect everyone, there they will go, and hold the line until the foe is vanquished."

"Matt? Kyle? Would you please join me up here?" She called out.

Making their way through the thin crowds, Matt and Kyle were both still somewhat surprised at this sudden turn of events. Serenity saw the looks on their faces and gave a small smile; just enough to ease their worries. The timing could have been better, but at this time, nobody was thinking enough to challenge her decision, and as the news got out, her few detractors would be left with little fuel to use against her. Finally, the two figures joined her on the platform, though both stopped a step below her.

"Please kneel," she said, the request spoken softly, but undoubtedly an order. They knelt.

"By my mantle as Goddess of the Moon; by the Power that flows through me, from my throne and throughout my Empire, I grant you the task of executor, and the position of Guardian."

There were gasps throughout the room as those present heard and understood what the Queen was saying. While they weren't Senshi, they'd just been granted a position similar to Serenity's most powerful warriors, and allotted the same status.

"You stand among the few who wield a power and a purpose greater than any one person. Remember to wield it with restraint, and always in defense of the people you are charged to protect."

Serenity stepped over to stand before Matt who, like Kyle, had knelt along with everyone else in hearing range as Serenity spoke in her voice as a Goddess.

"Matt; my friend and trusted shield. I bestow upon you the title of Inner Knight. Your stand between the people and all that threaten them. May your presence always instill the good with a sense of safety, and the evil fear the impending justice you mete." Having named Matt, she softly pressed the Ginzuishou to his forehead, where a tingle of magic went through him, even as she stepped before Kyle.

"Kyle; my friend and faithful lance. I bestow upon you the title of Outer Knight. You strike from the shadows to protect the people from threats they may never know exist. May your presence always instill the good with a sense of security."

Serenity moved to apply the Ginzuishou to Kyle's forehead when he looked up at her, smirk on his face. "What about the wicked, my Queen?"

Several onlookers gasped at the breach of protocol, but Serenity merely smiled. "The only thing evil should feel in your presence is the chill of the grave."

"I can live with that," Kyle replied, before bowing his head and bringing his forehead into contact with the Ginzuishou. Another flash, a trickle of magic, and Serenity put the Silver Crystal away. "Arise, my Champions."

"At your side, Milady!" Matt and Kyle replied with knowing grins, climbing to their feet and turning to look out at the assembled crowds.

"This Empire is yours now; as it is mine. Protect it."

The two nodded, sensing the request in her voice and knowing they would do as she asked.

With that, the ceremony of the situation faded, and the crowds began to disperse, even as several new figures made their way into the throne room.

"A rather impressive promotion for two unknowns," A rather haughty voice called out.

Serenity froze, before turning, a smile on her face. "Mercury!"

"And me, Your Majesty," A second figure popped in.

"Ahh, Senshi Jupiter." Queen Serenity said, fixing the girl with a stare, before both broke into smiles.

"Uranus, come along, the three of you should meet my newest guardians," Serenity said, before stopping again. She'd seen a familiar face in the crowd of nobles, and stepped forward to get a closer look.

"I should have known you would be there," Serenity said with a sigh.

The nobles all froze, several stepping out of the way to reveal a young woman in a lavender dress with a rather sheepish grin on her face. "Well, you know how it is, Lady Serenity..."

Serenity shook her head. "I don't approve."

The woman looked down at the floor in the face of the queen's disappointment. "I'm sorry," she apologized softly.

Serenity shook her head. "None of that! You're coming with us. I could use someone on my side as I lay out the work ahead."

The woman looked both intrigued and disappointed. "Of course, My Lady." She turned to a young woman beside her, whispering a couple words, before stepping around the crowd of nobles and moving to join the queen.

Kyle and Matt watched the byplay with feigned detachment, but Serenity noticed their glances. "Kyle, Matt; meet the Queen of Saturn. Lenee, meet the Inner and Outer Knights."

Matt nodded, as did Kyle, though both committed her face to memory. Not that it was hard, the queen was impressively attractive.

"New Guardians, hmm?" Queen Saturn asked, before she nodded. "I approve."

"So are you Sailor Saturn, then?" Matt asked as they made their way back to the small conference room.

Everyone stopped walking. Finally, Lenee turned to Serenity to regard her with a questioning look.

"Sailor Saturn isn't called unless something needs to End," Jupiter said, stiffly.

"That's kind of dumb," Kyle said, earning the incredulous stares of everyone but Matt and Serenity. Matt was nodding in agreement, and Serenity buried her face in her hands, as Kyle continued. "You don't call Jupiter when there's a power outage, or Venus when nobody is feeling the love. Saturn's useful for more than just bringing down the Glaive."

Ignoring the way everyone present, even Serenity paled at Kyle's words, Matt piped in: "Yeah. I mean, Silence Wall is good for defense, and Silence Glaive Surprise is pretty powerful, without being world-ending."

Queen Lenee was torn between horror and amusement. Amusement at the fact that these two seemed to be arguing in favor of Saturn's Senshi being called to do her part in protecting the realm, and horror at the thought of someone openly criticizing one of Serenity's commands.

Mercury spoke up first. "I'm... Not _entirely_ convinced these two have what it takes to assume so powerful a role."

Jupiter tried to suppress her nod, but couldn't help letting out a grunt of agreement.

Uranus however, spoke what the others were thinking, after turning red in anger as these two wanna-be-Senshi questioned their queen. "Are you two _stupid_?"

"Uranus!" Serenity snapped. The blonde Senshi had the sense to look ashamed at being called out like that, but continued to glare at Matt and Kyle, who were looking around in confusion.

"Into the room, please? Before we continue this," Serenity ordered, gesturing towards the door to the conference room.

After everyone was within, Serenity sat down, before waving to everyone else to join her at the table.

"Alright, before you all begin questioning my judgment, Matt, Kyle and I have only recently returned from a two-and-a-half-year jaunt in another universe. Mercury, run a scan on Matt and Kyle. They're not from this universe, and their armor is from another."

Mercury nodded at her queen, before closing her eyes and chanting a quiet mantra while waving her arms theatrically.

Kyle watched with interest and confusion as a small ball of light appeared between them. When a beam of light lanced out to strike him in the face, a second hitting Matt, before two more impacted their armor, they both shifted in their seats. Finally the lights disappeared, and the ball expanded, becoming an ephemeral sheet of paper that Mercury read over with a slight frown.

"I see... They are from a location temporally offset, as well. Though it appears your promotion is anchoring them here. The difference is not as pronounced as it should be, and was growing steadily weaker even during the scan itself. The armor, however, is definitely not from this universe."

Serenity nodded. "So, as you all now know, they're not from around here. Trust me when I say both of these men had plenty of opportunity to betray me or prove to me they weren't worthy of the stations I've bestowed upon them. Needless to say, they've proven themselves to me a hundred times over."

"But Queen Serenity! They're-" Uranus started to say.

"Human." Mercury interrupted, still looking at the semi-transparent page in her hands.

"From Earth?" Jupiter asked, shocked.

"... Do humans come from other places here?" Kyle asked, with a smirk.

"And that one has-" Mercury began.

"A Star Seed. Yes, I know," Serenity interrupted, before turning to Matt. "I'm afraid our return to my world was interfered with by the Lich King's final attack. Indeed, I worry what damage such a dark magic attack might have done as it tore through the ether between universes after us. Whatever it is, we must deal with the results, and the most immediate appears to have been your separation from us upon arrival."

"Yeah, I kind of wondered what happened there," Matt admitted.

"You appeared on Earth, in the middle of a rather illegal and potentially treasonous ceremony. One that Earth will soon be made aware of our knowledge of."

Jupiter leaned forward. "Wait, you mean they were trying to give someone Earth's Starseed? They were trying to create a Senshi?"

Serenity shrugged. "Without having been there, I can't tell. But yes, at the very least, they were hoping to harness the power of their planet vie the link to a starseed. if the recipient had been female, then technically, she would have been a few steps away from becoming a Senshi."

"Wait. I'm not going to... I mean..." Matt winced. "I'm not going to have to go through what Kyle did, am I?"

Serenity laughed. Everyone but Kyle looked confused, and Kyle was content to let it stay that way.

Finally, Serenity calmed down. "No, Matt. You are tied to Earth, but not a Senshi. Without the spells and procedures to take advantage of that link, the most you'll receive is a small boost in mana, as well as some basic regeneration; slightly faster healing, maybe some improvement to speed or reflexes... but nothing overt."

Matt wasn't sure whether or not to look pleased or disappointed. Serenity recognized this and grinned. "I'm sure we could fix that for you, if you really want."

"Nonono, I'm fine!" Matt said quickly.

Serenity nodded, grinning, before turning to look at Kyle. "I suppose, for the time being, that makes you the only normal one left."

Mercury cleared her throat then, ending the byplay.

With a sigh, Serenity nodded. "You all heard my decree. I'm here to elaborate. Queen Saturn is here to act as a witness. Matt and Kyle will operate between the various planetary Militias and the Senshi."

"But why?" Uranus asked. "The system works fine as it is! Why change-"

Serenity slapped her fist on the table and pinned the Senshi in place with a very angry glare. "The system does_ not _work as it is. Hundreds have died as you and the other Senshi disengage from whatever problems you're dealing with to engage an enemy that spends its every moment killing everyone and everything it comes across!" Serenity scowled. "Unless _you'd_ like to take responsibility for every death that occurs between a youma sighting and a Senshi's arrival?"

Uranus shook her head no, shocked at the queen's outburst. Serenity, seeing the Senshi's new found understanding, continued. "Then we will change the system. Instead of spending much of their free time visiting various cities around the system as I have you all doing, they will lie in wait. When an enemy attacks, they will move in. The Militias will evacuate the local populace, while Matt and Kyle engage the enemy. If the enemy is too much to handle, a Senshi will be called in. In the meantime, the militias aren't dying by the hundreds, and the unguarded populace hiding in their homes isn't slaughtered by the thousands."

Uranus spoke up haltingly, then. "I see your point, Highness, and it's something I agree with. However, I've seen how these two fought. Impressive though they may be, some of what we've faced these past years would tear them apart. I won't question their intentions, nor would I ever question yours. As it stands, though, I have serious doubts as to their efficacy in facing some of the more powerful youma that have appeared throughout the kingdom."

Serenity nodded, while Kyle and Matt bristled at the continued questioning of their skills. "Fair enough. I think both of them have quite a few surprises still; enough so to give them a chance to defeat that which you are so quick to dismiss their changes on. But I agree. The distance between them and the average guard is still half that of the distance between themselves and you all."

Kyle frowned. "We're not _that_ bad. I'm pretty sure I could take a Senshi."

"Ha!" Uranus pointed at him incredulously. "You? I've seen you fight. In a fair battle, I'd turn you into paste."

Kyle grinned, pulling up his hood and obscuring his face with he shadows inside. Magic in the hood made his eyes glow a malicious red from within the shadows as he spoke up. "Who said I fight fair?"

Serenity sighed. "Enough! Under certain conditions, each of you has the ability to neutralize one another. But you should never fight each other. Not when there are enemies lining up to take advantage of every opportunity." While everyone thought about what she said, Serenity turned to the woman sitting beside her. "Your thoughts on all this, Queen Saturn?"

Lenee jumped at being called upon, before nodding as she thought about her words, even as she spoke them. "I think... That what you propose makes sense. Unlike most planets, Saturn imposes mandatory militia training for all citizens, so we're not as helpless as those on, say... Venus," she made sure to chose a planet without a Senshi present to protest her point. "Still, a faster response should save many lives, and I trust you to know that these two will perform as you have said, even if my observations lead me to agree with Senshi Uranus."

Serenity nodded, before pointing to Kyle. "Then it's time to explain the rest of my vision. During our excursion to Azeroth, Matt, Kyle and I spent two years setting up and securing a base in a hostile environment, in hostile territory. While we all learned and taught, Kyle definitely took the lead in establishing much of the infrastructure of the base and it's personnel, quickly rising through the ranks to take a position of command so that he could better lead the men and women serving there."

Serenity paused for a moment to let that sink in, before looking Kyle in the red-glowing eyes from within his hood. "Kyle, I want you to establish a Base here in my kingdom. Recruit the people you need, and train them to fight like you do. Matt will be your second in command, and I will provide the funds and tools you need."

Kyle blinked, pulling down his hood to stare at Serenity in shock. "You want me to make an army? Of rogues?"

Serenity smiled and shook her head. "Not an army. And not just rogues. I need warriors trained in the tactics you tried to instill in the women and men on Azeroth. Dedicated Melee fighters, Ranged support. You said yourself the guards here are ornamental. I'm ordering you to fix that."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to train everyone like that?" Matt asked.

Serenity shook her head, but it was Queen Saturn who answered. "Many people who join the planetary militias do it for the pay, the free food... The opportunity to wear some nice armor and meet people. It's a job they walk away from in the end. From what Serenity has said, it sounds like you're looking for career soldiers."

"Precisely," Serenity said. "And honestly, I know you're going to ask for special armor. I specifically recall your complaints about standard plate armor. I'm the Queen of an empire that spans the Solar System, but even_ I _can't afford to equip every soldier on every planet with what I'm sure will be a rather costly set of armor."

Kyle nodded. "Okay, that makes sense. So... A small... Unit?" He nodded to himself, "Unit, then, of soldiers. Urban Warfare training, Armor designed for anti-monster operations... And a base of operations." He closed his eyes in thought, before opening them to look at Serenity square in the eye. "If I have to have a base in the Solar System, it has to be on Mimas."

"Mimas?" Serenity asked, confused.

"My moon?" Queen Lenee asked, frowning.

"Why Mimas?" Matt asked.

"Because! It looks like the Death Star. How could _any _other celestial body come anywhere near that in terms of coolness? Besides; Imagine that view every morning for planet rise. Saturn cresting the horizon... Damn straight it's gotta be Mimas."

"Death Star?" Senshi Jupiter asked, frowning.

"Movie reference... Err... Play... Theater?" Matt said, becoming confused as he tried to explain. "Show. Definitely show."

"Moving on," Serenity interjected, before the two could start an irrelevant conversation. "Wherever the base is established, You'll need to begin working on plans if you want it built a certain way. I'll schedule an appointment for you with the royal engineers to oversee the construction. And if you want Mimas, you'll need permission from Queen Lenee here to build on her moon."

"Her moon?" Matt asked, frowning. "I thought you were in charge."

"She is," Queen Saturn said, with a small smile. "However, as much of a formality as it is, the ability to exercise my power in so important a plan is just one of many ways Lady Serenity enables peaceful cooperation between all the myriad planets within her Empire."

"The illusion of power?" Kyle asked, frowning.

Lenee met his frown with one of her own. "I wouldn't _quite_ put it that way. Serenity can overrule our decisions, but she rarely does, and only if its truly required. I doubt any of the ruling families within the solar system have had a decision overruled that they didn't realize was for the better. Even if, at the time, it seemed rather unfair."

Uranus muttered something under her breath, earning a stifled chuckle from Jupiter. Serenity glared, and Uranus had the decency to look somewhat ashamed.

"In any case. Lenee? Does Kyle's request for a base on Mimas meet your approval?"

The Queen of Saturn frowned in thought before looking at the people assembled at the table. "I... Am unsure." She paused, trying to put her thoughts to words. Today had been quite an experience, and even after the battle in the throne room, Lenee was experiencing a roller coaster of emotions. A vast majority of the Silver Millennium was rather stand-off-ish in regards to Saturn. Her people weren't openly shunned, but they operated under the negative stigma that could only come of having a Senshi that only appeared when it was time for worlds to end. That these two would chose her moon as the location of their base was heartwarming. But the opposite side of that coin left her worried that they, and the unit as a whole, would be ostracized due to their proximity to Saturn. Their base on Mimas would do wonders for Saturn's appearance to the Empire, but could endanger the unit's appearance at the same time. Could she truly allow them to sabotage themselves before they even began? Outer Knight Kyle had insisted on Mimas. And Serenity could overrule her if she denied him. Her only hope, then, was to convince him otherwise. For the good of the Empire. "Before you commandeer a portion of one my moons, I insist you visit Saturn, as well as some of the other planets in the system. Being new to the Empire, it would only be fair if you took the time to examine the many locations available."

Serenity knew her smile looked as fake as it was. "An excellent suggestion. A whirlwind tour of the Empire, before we meet up on Saturn, where you can make your decision," she offered.

Kyle frowned. "Look, I don't know why you're suddenly hemming and hawing over this. If not Saturn, just say so, and I'll turn to Jupiter. Because that's the most reasonable area in the solar system to minimize travel time."

Matt smacked Kyle on the shoulder lightly. "Lay off the lady, man. It's likely she wants to make sure our base doesn't endanger her people unduly or something. We're kinda new to the political scene and she'd probably like time to get to know better us before entrusting us with one of her delightfully-sized moons." He grinned at the Queen of Saturn. "Right, your highness?"

Jupiter couldn't help herself, she laughed. "Seriously? Saturn? I'm surprised she's not throwing herself at your feet in thanks. You two have a lot to learn, if you think anywhere _near_ Saturn is a good place to build your base."

"Jupiter!" Serenity snapped.

"She's right, though. I am thankful you saw one of my moons as an ideal location for your base, but for the good of the Empire, I'm afraid it's not in your best interest to build there. We've garnered a rather... Painful reputation that would do you little good if it were to be associated with you as well," Queen Saturn said softly.

Kyle looked around the table in surprise. Serenity wasn't arguing the point, and the other Senshi all looked about as amused as Jupiter did. "Well. Fuck your politics. I say Mimas, and I either get it, or I sit here and watch everything fall apart."

"You can't say that!" A new voice called out.

"He just did," another one replied. The former had been female, the latter male, and a moment later, two cats, one white and one blue jumped up on the table, walking over to bow before Serenity.

"Luna! Artemis! I was beginning to worry! Where have you been?" Serenity asked.

"Looking for you, highness!" Luna replied, before looking around. "But it seems we were too late, you've been found."

"The effort is appreciated, my friends," Serenity said, before waving to Kyle and Matt. "Let me introduce you two to the newest Guardians of the Empire."

"We heard, Serenity! Everyone's talking about it in the throne room," Artemis said, looking the two over. Men; apparently wealthy judging by the enchanted armor they wore. And judging from the stories of their power in battle, dangerous as well.

"Which one dared to speak such uncivilized words in your presence, your Majesty?" Luna asked, frowning at the two.

Matt hastily pointed at Kyle. "He did it."

Kyle just glared. "I was asked to do a job, kitty. I intend to do it. Nothing stands in my way; especially not something as ephemeral as some negative reputation Saturn may or may not have done anything to earn."

Luna bristled. "I am not named 'Kitty!' I am Luna, Primary political advisor to Queen Serenity the Third!"

Artemis, with as much animation as Luna, shrugged. "I'm Artemis, the queen's tactical advisor."

"Pleasure to meet you, Artemis," Kyle said with a curt nod.

"Well, interesting as this has been, back to the matter at hand," Mercury said, sending the conversation back towards the Queen of Saturn, who had been thankful for the interruption. "If you insist-"

"I do," Kyle said, flatly.

Queen Lenee frowned at the interruption, but continued, "-then I can agree on one condition."

Kyle scowled, and only Serenity's warning throat-clearing stopped him from saying what he had opened his mouth to say. Instead, he sighed. "What would that be?"

"Come to Saturn, first. Come and meet the people who's fate you might share, when it comes to the opinions of the rest of the Empire," Queen Saturn said.

"I will see to it that he does," Serenity said, before turning to look at Matt. "You will be traveling as well, but elsewhere."

"Splitting us up?" Kyle asked.

"Momentarily. I'll arrange for transport for you two soon. I have other matters to discuss with my Senshi before I myself head out to take care of a couple things," the queen elaborated.

"Before we go our separate ways, there was one thing I'd like to ask about," Mercury said, drawing everyone's attention. When she was sure she had it, she pointed towards the wall, beyond which lay the hallway, several side-rooms, and eventually, the Palace Gardens. "There appears to be a rather large object resting outside in the gardens. A brief scan on the way in indicated it was not from this universe, much like these two and their armor."

Kyle grinned in memory. "Oh yeah! There was a sub out there!"

"Sub?" Matt asked. "Like... _submarine_?"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah." Then he frowned in thought. "Hmmm..." Before anyone could ask what he was thinking, he hopped out of his chair and left the room, walking quickly towards the gardens.

Everyone in the room looked at each other, before getting up to follow him. Outside, they saw him standing in the doorway to the throne room looking confused. "Don't know the way, do you?" Serenity asked, smirking.

"Not like I couldn't find my way there eventually," Kyle replied.

"Probably, but it might be faster if I assigned someone to show you the way," Serenity offered.

"Actually, I might need you for this," Kyle admitted.

"Can it wait?"

"Yes, but it shouldn't take too long," he offered.

"Very well, this way," Serenity said, heading towards one of the many doors towards the front of the room. A short trip later, Kyle stood before the submarine he remembered briefly glimpsing years ago, it's impressive length dominating a large portion of the gardens. "A boomer," he muttered, staring at the flattened upper hull. From the ground, the hatches leading to the missile tubes were invisible, but the shape of the hull left him little doubt that they were there. Years ago, he'd walked on one for a day, a high school field trip. Now, he realized this was likely the biggest glimpse he'd ever have of the life he had once lived.

"That doesn't look like a humanoid robot from Bubblegum Crisis to me, Kyle," Matt deadpanned.

"That's because it's not. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure it's an Ohio-Class Submarine," Kyle replied.

"What do those do?" Serenity asked.

"Fire MIRV-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles at enemy targets from the ocean," he replied, before grinning. "Holy crap. There's a friggin nuclear submarine here, and nobody is coming out to ask where they are!"

"DIBS!" Matt shouted, beating Kyle to it.

"NO WAY," Kyle snarled, before making his way over towards it. As they rounded a series of marble columns that were apparently water fountains as well, Kyle saw the ship's name on the side of its sail. 'USS Nebraska.'

"It's mine according to the International Dibs Protocol," Matt insisted as he followed.

"Fine. Keep it. I claim the contents," Kyle said, before looking around. "I need a ladder."

Matt eyed the distance speculatively. "I think I could toss you up there." He turned and grinned. "Wanna give it a try?" At Kyle's irritated glare, he said, "I'll take that as a 'no' then."

A few minutes later, the guards who'd been watching the sub ever since it arrived had set a ladder up and Kyle was climbing up the ship's sail, where he vaguely remembered a hatch leading inside being.

It was dark inside, through a few of the panels glowed with power, either in standby or something like it.

Before he could find a light, Matt dropped to the deck beside him. "So. Any idea what you're doing?" Matt asked quietly.

"No clue," Kyle replied, before finding a light switch and flicking it on. Small overhead bulbs lit up at once, illuminating the narrow corridor as it traveled partway through the ship. "Allrighty, you check the torpedo room, I'll check the missile room. Good?"

"Where's the torpedo room?"

"It's... umm.. that way," Kyle said, pointed towards the front of the ship.

"Just 'that way?'" Matt raised two fingers and dipped them in tandem, emphasizing his skepticism with air quotes.

"What? You think I know where the missile room is?" Kyle replied. Matt shrugged and turned, but before he could walk off, they heard a noise back where Kyle had intended to go.

Matt spun back around, hand instinctively gripping the pommel of his sword. "What was that?"

With an incredulous look on his face, Kyle looked back at Matt. "Do you really think I know?" Before Matt could answer, Kyle drew his daggers. "Come on."

The two were just about to the end of the hall, when the pressure door ahead flew open, the unsealed hatch swinging wide on oiled hinges to reveal inky blackness beyond. "What the hell," Kyle muttered, confused.

"I don't know," Matt shrugged.

And then, out of the darkness stepped a figure. Dressed in typical blue navy coveralls, both Matt and Kyle hissed in shock and surprise at the figure's condition. They'd seen plenty of people reduced to this state before. Fought them for two years. It was an undead. It was a zombie.


	4. Chapter 4

"Well, you claimed the contents," Matt said as he hauled himself over the lip of the sub entrance and slammed the hatch shut. "The zombies are all yours."

Glaring down at the closed hatch, Kyle crossed his arms defensively. "It's not exactly what I expected," he replied grimly.

"Guess now we know why no one was coming out, wondering where they were. Probably came from a dimension where zombies took over the world."

"Blah. Didn't we just _leave_ that party?" Kyle asked, before looking over the lip of the railing towards the gardens far below.

"Hey, Azeroth was still fighting that fight last I checked. They've at least got a chance. It's likely our buddies in the sub... Well. _Didn't_. If it follows standard zombie infestation fiction, at least. We'll have to clear the sub out to make sure of course." Matt didn't look exactly thrilled at the prospect.

"Great. Close Quarters Combat in an unfamiliar environment, in the dark, against zombies... I'll take lead, you cover my back," Kyle griped, before reaching down and pulling the hatch open again. When a pair of rotting hands reached out for him, he scowled and stomped on them as hard as he could, ignoring the snap of cracking bones even as the figure below them fell back into the sub with a muffled thud. "The things we put up with to get the best toys," he muttered, before jumping down, daggers drawn.

* * *

As Matt was climbing down the ladder behind Kyle, Serenity, facing her Senshi and Queen Saturn with no idea of the threat within the sub behind her, was in the middle of detailing her adventures on Azeroth. "-And _she_ said 'Yes yes, your precious space-rock.'"

"_Space rock_?" Jupiter echoed loudly.

Serenity merely nodded. "That's about how I replied."

Uranus scratched her head. "You know... you're not really giving us much incentive here to trust these two, Highness."

With a sigh, Serenity nodded. "I'm giving you a condensed version of what happened. But I'm beginning to think that you all will have to learn as I did; through experience."

Mercury frowned. "I fail to see how experience will convince us where words have yet to, my Queen."

"Humans are fickle, quirky, and contrary beings, Mercury. Just look at Earth. Kyle and Matt are no different. What they say most of the time is not nearly as important as what they do all of the time. And since I met them, they've yet to act against me," Serenity stated.

"There's a difference between befriending a couple of wayward humans, and elevating them to a position nearly equal to ours," Uranus muttered.

"And yet, from what Serenity's been saying, these two seem to have just the right amount of luck, skill, and understanding to pull off the very task Serenity has charged them with," Lenee pointed out. She didn't show it outwardly, but she'd been delighted at seeing Kyle verbally take Uranus down a peg or two; it made it an easy choice to leap to their defense.

Mercury bristled, "I still think we should try diplomacy before bringing even more force to bear on an enemy we still don't understand."

Serenity closed her eyes with a tired sigh. "Mercury, we've gone over this before. I will not parley with a foe who's sole stated goal is 'Down with the Moon Kingdom!' and 'Down with Serenity!'"

"At the risk of sounding sycophantic," Lenee said, "I'd have to agree. Especially considering they've killed hundreds of innocents."

Mercury shook her head. "There has to be a reason for it, though! There is no logical reason for a sentient race to act with such hostility towards a sovereign kingdom without some justifiable line of reasoning!"

Serenity scowled. "Are you saying these attacks on my kingdom are justified?"

Mercury blinked, before shaking her head. "I misspoke, My Queen. It must seem justified to them, while to us, it is anything but. We need to find out why they think these attacks are reasonable, and to do that, we need to engage them in dialogue, not combat!"

"I will entertain the thought of discussing this with them when they approach my throne with the dignity and decorum all civilizations have shown in the past when dealing with us. Even without knowing the proper protocols, no foreign state has _ever_ managed to screw up a first contact _this_ badly. These are attacks, Mercury, not misguided attempts to get our attention. And I will respond to the attacks with whatever force is required to keep my people safe. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Queen Serenity." Mercury said, knowing to press further now would be unwise. But she _would_ bring this up later. To raise the aggressiveness of the responses was to invite a more aggressive attack. The situation was insane, but it seemed nobody but her could see that.

"Do you really think they should build a base on Mimas?" Lenee asked, cutting into the silence.

"Kyle's reasons were sound. And I think our perspective on that is somewhat skewed. Most of the commoners don't care about Saturn any more than they care about Earth. It's the nobles that have such negative views; the higher up you go, the stronger they are," Serenity pointed out.

"True, but you'll be cutting off a large number of potential recruits if none of the nobles will want anything to do with the new unit," Jupiter pointed out.

Serenity shrugged, "I'll pull the funds out of the treasury myself. Aside from financial support, I imagine there's little the nobles would have to offer, anyway."

Uranus frowned at that. "Wait. The nobility makes up the majority of the officers in the militias and guard units throughout the system. You can't mean they're going to willingly turn down that much experience and training."

Queen Saturn chuckled. "I don't think you grasped what Serenity was implying. This new unit is going to do things differently than the standard militias. I'd be surprised if there's not a period of time where the new Knights are forced to make the recruits un-learn some of what they're used to doing in the standard militias. Especially if they truly feel the current Guard is merely ornamental."

Uranus' jaw dropped. "That's... Insane! You can't just dismiss thousands of years of tradition based on somebody's ideas about what _might_ work better!"

Serenity chuckled, "Some problems, Uranus, have more than one answer. Matt, Kyle and I were having a metaphorical discussion once, and at one point, they were both asked what the fastest way to a man's heart was."

Jupiter snorted. "Like Uranus would understand that," she muttered.

Uranus whirled on the Senshi of Jupiter, even as Queen Saturn and Mercury chuckled softly at the dig.

Serenity cleared her throat. "Anyway, as I was saying; when both were asked, Matt replied 'through his stomach,' meaning to win a man over, one could bribe them with good food. Advice, I must admit, that works all too well, most of the time."

"And how did our illustrious Outer Knight reply?" Mercury asked.

"'Through his ribcage.'" Serenity said with a smirk. "As you can see, that particular problem is not only solved in two very different ways, it can be taken in two totally different ways, as well."

"Yet, each could have a similar outcome," Artemis said, having exited the palace and only recently rejoining the four women on the lawn. Luna was right beside him.

"How so?" Jupiter asked, frowning in thought.

"If you've snared someone's heart, you can get them to do almost anything you want. And if they're dead..." Uranus started.

"They're not going to be stopping you," Artemis finished.

Mercury scowled. "And _this_ is the kind of response you intend to provide with this new force?"

"Well, you have to admit," Artemis pointed out, "with an attitude like that, if these two are as good as Serenity says they are, they should fill the gap between the Militia and the Senshi nicely."

"I'll believe that when I see it," Mercury replied, frowning down at the advisor. "As it is, I'm going to have nightmares about the collateral damage someone that savage could cause with the skill Serenity says they have."

"Yes, and maybe someday Matt will cook you a fancy dinner, too," Lenee snarked, finally having enough of Mercury's obvious hostility. "What a horrifying thought."

Serenity quirked her mouth into a smile at the jibe, but let the remark slide.

* * *

Inside the sub, things were progressing about as expected.

"Two more behind you!" Matt yelled, moments before a dagger flashed by him in the darkened sub and sunk into the eye of a zombie that had managed to stumble up behind him. They weren't quiet by any means. Not only did they shuffle around and drag their feet, they moaned something horrible. Considering the numbers however, there were always one or two moaning, meaning there was noise everywhere, and in the cramped spaces, it echoed up and down the sub making it impossible to tell for certain how far away they were.

Currently, the stalwart duo were making a stand in the missile room, a relatively massive compartment full of large vertical tubes that rose into the darkness overhead like trees. Fitting, then, that it was sometimes referred to as Sherwood Forest. Or perhaps 'thicket' would be more appropriate; Kyle had been counting the tubes, and they seemed to abruptly cut off at twelve. Instead of another twelve, the compartment opened up into an open space that shouldn't be there. "That's not right," he muttered, even as he decapitated another shambling corpse.

Unlike the undead on Azeroth, these zombies seemed to be more or less stereotypical. Wounds to the body were ignored as they mindlessly moved to attack. After a couple attempts at dropping them through blunt-force trauma and bodily damage, they discovered much to their annoyance that only a telling head injury would do. Fortunately, they were, also unlike Azerothian undead, very stupid, and tended to swarm their targets. In an open area, that would be dangerous, but in the enclosed sub, against two blade-wielders who were used to taking on magically-enhanced undead, these things were less a threat, and more an annoyance.

"So, I was thinking," Kyle said during a lull in the fighting.

"Hmm?" Matt hmmed as he moved to decapitate two more zombies with a broad swing of his sword. He winced as the blade sunk an inch into a the steel of a bulkhead, and glanced behind him to see if Kyle had noticed, before tugging the blade free and deciding not to use such broad attacks in so narrow an area.

"Well, this sub is fairly deserted, right? So, as the claimants, we could potentially make use of it however we like..." Kyle elaborated, before ducking under the outstretched hand of a one-armed zombie, coming up inside its reach, and burying his blade in the undead eye.

"I suppose. Not like any of these," Matt paused to kick a zombie further away from him that had gotten too close, "...creatures, will object. Well, more than they currently are, at any rate."

"Right, so, what's to say we don't try to make this into a ship? I mean, it has nukes, it has a pressure hull. Frankly, it's almost an inside-out spaceship. Hatches open the wrong way, but I'm sure there's a way to fix that." Kyle threw another blade across the room, but his target stumbled over something on the floor at the last second, and the blade glanced off the zombie's skull and disappeared into the darkness.

"Hoh... Well... Shit," Kyle muttered, ignoring the blade he'd just lost and staring at the object on the ground the zombie had tripped over. Before Matt could ask, Kyle was moving, coming to a stop with a slide that let him scoop up the prize with a grin. He was so distracted Matt had to pierce the skull of another zombie that was wandering a bit too close for comfort.

"What? What is it?" Matt asked as he kept watch for more of the enroaching, lumbering horde.

After taking a second to look it over, Kyle hefted the bulky item, and turned towards Matt. "Zombie killer." To better punctuate his comment, he cocked the pump-action shotgun, and grinned as a red shell was ejected and hit the floor with a familiar plastic sound. Then he flicked on the mounted flashlight, shined it at the darkened alcove beyond, and grinned. "Jackpot."

* * *

"What was that?" Queen Saturn asked, looking up at the object in curiosity and alarm. It had come from within, but the sound was not natural, nor was it like anything she'd heard her friends do on Azeroth. More like a small, punctuated explosion.

Before anyone could respond, there was another blast, then a long string of them, these not quite as loud, but coming in rapid succession.

"Nevermind that, what was _that_?" Jupiter asked, frowning.

A minute later, two figures appeared on top of the object, Matt and Kyle crawling out of the top hatch, both now sporting new objects, some of which were slung, others held in their hands. Both were grinning.

"Well, you can forget archers," Kyle said, before hopping on the ladder and climbing down to the ground. Matt was right behind him.

"Why is that? And what are those?" Lenee asked, as the two came to stand before them.

"Balance of power," Kyle replied, smugly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Uranus asked.

"Up until now, every fight in the Silver Millennium has been, barring magic, a knife fight," Kyle elaborated. "That's about to change."

"How so? You're not making any sense," Jupiter asked.

"We've got the only guns in the solar system," Kyle said, hefting the M-4 in his hands.

Matt cocked his shotgun with an evil grin. "And you don't bring a knife to a gunfight." 

* * *

The balcony was near the top of Castle Carrus, giving it an unparalleled view of the surrounding land below. On one side, trees swept over the low-lying hills like a verdant carpet, thick and untouched, while on the other a lake spread lazily about, reflecting a mirror-perfect image of the distant mountains. It was something Prince Echion, heir apparent to the throne of Earth, had grown accustomed to seeing; amazingly, the sight had not dulled over the years. It was this magnificent scenery that occupied his attention as he listened with half an ear to Jaedite, one of the more faithful soldiers to his family.

"...and so, after Serenity announced to the surviving nobles that she was elevating these two newcomers to the rank of Guardian, she also declared she was implementing a new task force; one below the Senshi in terms of power, but more numerous and able to respond quickly to threats. These two new men are to head and lead this group."

"Interesting. It seems her majesty has found yet more powerful allies. And a new force to combat the growing threat to her kingdom? That's smart. Sounds like she's been planning this a while to announce it like that suddenly... Though it _is_ suspicious that it has to do with the man that suddenly appeared at the ceremony. I wonder if the two events are connected?"

Jadeite bowed lower. "I have my best men still searching the forest for any sign of the starseed, but I could not sense it on his person. If he is involved with stealing it, he's either hidden it very well or passed it on to another. In either case-"

"Oh, that," Echion cut off Jadeite in mid-sentence, and rolled his eyes. "The whole theft claim was simply propaganda spread by my father. He didn't want word getting out that the intruder actually bonded with the Starseed, rather than simply stole it."

"He WHAT?" Jadeite nearly shouted as he looked up, barely remembering in time, despite his shock, to keep his voice within manageable levels.

"Merged with the Starseed of Earth. Right in front of me. I watched it happen with my own two eyes. I _was_ supposed to be the recipient after all; it was sort of difficult to miss."

Jadeite stared in horror as his royal liege stated the theft of their greatest military hope as if he was merely discussing the weather. He barely found the strength to whisper, with a voice that was noticeably strained, "How is that possible?"

Echion looked thoughtful. "I don't know. It's most likely he's from Earth, though we do have reports of Serenity dabbling in all sorts of experimental magic; judging by his strange clothing and mannerisms it's possible he's not from around 'this' particular Earth. The castle is warded against teleportation from this plane of existence, but I don't believe it has any special wards against cross-dimensional boundaries. We should probably fix that. Of course, something in the transference ceremony could have drawn him to us..." He shrugged. "Without all the pieces to this particular puzzle, it's all conjecture, really."

"She had to have known," Jadite growled, before Echion interrupted again.

"He did me a favor, you know," Echion remarked offhandedly.

Jadeite's head snapped up in surprise. "Your majesty?"

Echion sighed. "You know me, Jadeite. I never wanted the responsibility; the entirety of Earth's problems, weighing me down, forcing my hand and making my decisions." He chuckled. "It appears my wish has been granted."

Echion face became stern. "However, we cannot let an affront against the Ruling House of Earth go without comment. Even if what we were doing wasn't exactly looked upon favorably by our neighbors, they have to know it was only an attempt to keep up with their vastly superior fighting forces. How many super-warriors do they have at their disposal now? Seven? Eight? Not including the Queen herself? It's appalling that they'd believe we'd be complacent with how unbalanced the power is between our two kingdoms." He shook his head decisively. "No. While not proud we went about this in secret, we shall not deny our actions."

"And what of this 'Matt' that currently holds Earth's Starseed?" Jadite asked, narrowing his eyes in contemplation.

Echion waved a hand negligently. "We'll allow him to keep it, of course. If he and his companion are as close to the Queen as you say, there's no real choice in the matter. A direct attack would be foolish, and I don't believe kidnapping or killing the man would serve any real purpose. For good or ill, the Starseed has decided to bind itself to the boy. It's out of our control now." He smirked. "However..."

"However?"

"There's nothing saying we can't join forces from time to time. It's possible that he'll feel the need to protect the Earth, and possibly its interests, through the bond he shares with the Starseed."

Jadite nodded approvingly. "Your orders then, my liege?"

"Keep an eye on things for now. Discreetly, of course. I'll be appointing you court liaison for the time being; publicly to show Earth having a renewed interest in Moon Kingdom politics. Privately, between the Queen and ourselves, to keep watch over Matt and to make sure our 'gift' is being used wisely. I want to learn more about the host of Earth's Starseed, and why it would choose him..."

Left unspoken were the words 'over me.'

"Of course, your highness." Jadeite bowed. "I shall not fail you."

* * *

"So, you're saying that those are more effective than swords?" Serenity asked, after an explanation had been given.

"In the right hands? Yes," Kyle replied, before frowning. "Granted, they've not been tested against supernatural threats, but I imagine that if a sword can kill a youma, bullets can, too."

Serenity looked at the small metallic object in her hand with a frown. From what Kyle had said, the copper-coated tip was all that struck the enemy, the rest merely served as a container for the explosive that propelled the bullet. She knew from what he said that the bullet would be traveling at a far higher speeds than most magic attacks, but still. Before she could voice her concern, Mercury pointed out what she'd also concluded.

"I can see them penetrating a standard youma; however, their size and shape seems more likely to incapacitation. Debilitating wounds, slow bleed-outs. A basic examination spell tells me that aside from a few small target areas, these wouldn't dispatch a _human_. And youma are far tougher."

Kyle nodded. "True enough. I was told the design philosophy behind those rounds was incapacitation. Kill one target in an army, and the rest keep coming. Grievously wound one, and you take him, and the companions needed to save him out of the fight."

Jupiter nodded. "Pragmatic and practical, if somewhat..."

Mercury scowled. "Barbaric." She concluded, frowning at the round she'd been handed with new scorn.

"So why would these be a better choice to arm your soldier's with than, say, swords, which, if not as effective at range, seem far more suited to dispatching an enemy with finality?" Serenity asked.

"Because, you're operating under the assumption that we will be teaching them how to place a single shot at center mass. Given a little creativity in applying the proper enchantments to their armor... Well..." Kyle grinned savagely, slipping a switch with his thumb and turning towards an empty area of the gardens. Before anyone could ask what he was doing, he squeezed the trigger, sending a stream of bullets into one of the earthen mounds a couple dozen yards away. The first few impacts were in a small area, but they started to stray, then move back towards the initial impact point, before the firing stopped, the magazine empty.

"Well, I suppose even a youma would fall over if given enough holes," Uranus said with a shrug. "As impressive as that was, though, wouldn't it make more sense to do a similar amount of damage with a sword?"

"I'm sure Her Majesty can guess the answer to that," Kyle replied with a scowl at the Senshi.

"That much damage from range would keep the men alive, without disengaging from the enemy," Serenity explained.

"And?" Matt prompted, joining in. He'd already discussed this with Kyle for a few minutes on their trek out of the sub.

Serenity frowned in though, but Queen Saturn got the hint. "Melee!" When everyone turned to look at her in confusion, she blushed, before elaborating. "Earlier, you said you wanted them to form an army with both ranged and melee units. If the melee units are covered by ranged units equipped with weapons like that, they can easily retreat while the ranged units engage and delay the youma."

"A pity you're royalty. Quick as you are to catch on to tactics from another universe, I'd love to have your help when the fighting starts," Kyle muttered, impressed despite himself. Hell, Mercury's deduction of the 5.56 NATO round's design philosophy was just about as impressive. They might lack the grasp of modern tactics he and Matt'd grown up with, but nobody here could ever be accused of being stupid. Recalcitrant and set in their ways, however... "Aside from these weapons, we also have an insane idea for this ship itself."

"You know, you've said before that it was a ship, but I afraid I have to ask just what your definition of 'ship' is, since it's obviously not the same as ours," Jupiter asked.

Kyle grinned, before turning to Mercury. "That scan of yours, can it do simulations?"

Mercury frowned. "It can scan an object, then describe the objects predicted reactions based upon a set number of external stimuli. A complete simulation is impossible, but for a given scenario, the results would be somewhat close, if not as easily modified."

After puzzling that out for a moment, Kyle shrugged. "Alright then. just... Umm... Scan it, then, before testing it at a hundred feet below the surface of earth's oceans."

"Below the surface? You want her to simulate it sunken?" Jupiter asked, puzzled.

"Just wait. And I never said full of water."

"You never said it wasn't, either," Mercury muttered, canceling the spell and starting over. The initial scan had revealed that it was surprisingly watertight, so barring the obvious openings, the request wasn't to difficult to fit in when it came down to overriding the detection of the obvious open hatch up top. After a few moments, the scan was complete, and the spell began digesting what it had learned, even as I parsed out the possibilities in the environment chosen.

"Oh... Oh my. I think I'm beginning to see what you mean..." Mercury mumbled, even as more details from the scan were made apparent. "Neutral buoyancy, believable speeds, no magic at all! Interesting armaments..." She trailed off as the torpedo display was replaced by a warning that blocked her view of the rest of the data as something new was discovered. Something new and important. As it had been designed, Mercury's spell was normally quiet, so as not to give away her position on a silent battlefield. It also helped in being unobtrusive when used around crowds. That said, there were certain circumstances that overrode those considerations, and right now, it had detected one of them. "Your majesty, we must move away from this thing immediately!"

Kyle rolled his eyes. "It's safe enough," he explained.

"Queen Serenity, this ships primary weapon is... are..." She trailed off as the data filled the screen, eyes widening. "Twelve long-range missiles, armed with eight warheads, each one containing enough destructive potential to destroy an entire city sector." Even more data made her face drain further. "No, it's... multiple sectors. Variable explosive potential? With dangerous after-effects... Multiple self-maneuvering explosive delivery systems?"

Kyle, who was trying hard to contain his mirth as the spell tried to make sense of a MIRVed ICBM, spoke up. "Dangerous though they may be, they require a lot of modification before they could pose a threat to us now. Each warhead is tied to an accelerometer. If it doesn't reach a certain speed, then it won't explode."

Matt frowned. "How do you know that?"

Kyle shrugged. "Hunt for Red October."

Mercury cancelled the spell as more and more details were given to her. "Queen Serenity! This... This _thing_ is an abomination! Its sole purpose is to wipe cities off the face of the planet. It hides beneath the surface, with a hull designed to make it quiet and nigh-undetectable, and when the time comes, it rains down a hail of death and destruction on a scale that none but Saturn-"

"Hey!" Lenee protested.

"-Senshi Saturn could come close to emulating." Mercury finished.

Serenity frowned at this, before looking at Kyle. "You did say you would minimize casualties, didn't you? What did you call it? 'Collateral damage?' I think something like that would fly in the face of such a promise."

Kyle shrugged. "I'm pretty sure my bloodthirsty nature is barbaric enough _without_ wiping out whole cities. At least, in the eyes of Mercury here, who seems to think I had a hand in developing this weapon platform."

"Even if you didn't, your desire for it speaks for itself," Mercury spat.

"_It's an airtight ship, and I've been charged with protecting the solar system._ Makes sense to me to use it as a form of conveyance. Unless you intend to just teleport from planet to planet," Kyle replied.

"Generally, that is how it's done," Lenee pointed out.

"What? Which part?" Matt asked.

"Teleporting. How else would you get around the system in a reasonable amount of time?" Uranus asked, frowning at their apparent lack of understanding.

Kyle was at a loss. "You mean... you all can just teleport wherever you want to go?" He whirled on Serenity, an indignant frown on his face. "What, exactly, am I going to be doing when my troops all teleport off to fight, and I'm left staring at an empty room?"

Serenity looked at him in surprise, before smiling. "I think you got the wrong idea. Very few people in the Silver Millennium have that kind of power. Point-to-point teleportation is limited by power, because power determines range."

"And the space between planets on the base plane is big," Jupiter elaborated.

"Base plane?" Matt and Kyle asked at the same time.

Mercury blinked. "Wow..."

"Oh, relax. Their Earth might not have even had an upper plane," Lenee said, coming to their defense.

Serenity sighed, before waving everyone over to a pair of marble benches nearby. Instead of sitting down, she halted them nearby, and waved at the path they all stood upon.

"This path is the base plane. It is the planets, the space between planets, and everything above and below the solar plane that is a part of my kingdom, compressed into a two-dimensional representation," she started. When her two friends nodded, she pointed at the bench. "This bench is the upper plane. It is comprised of a large, contiguous stretch of land that can support life. We are here," she pointed at a corner of the bench, "and here," she pointed at the corner of a stone on the path, "at the same time."

"So... The upper plane is a... Sort of... _Merging_? Of every planet's habitable surface area?" Kyle asked, frowning in though.

Serenity shook her head. "Not quite. The two planes intersect at some points, like here, but for the most part, they're totally different places. There are convergences that coincide with areas on each planet, but some, like on Neptune, are artificial."

"Artificial?" Matt inquired.

"Neptune is a gas giant, along with Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter. So the points on those planets would be..." Kyle started, before frowning.

"Places on the upper plane that are linked to random points on their surface?" Matt finished.

"Well, probably not on the surface. Maybe within the atmosphere?" Kyle surmised.

"Close," Serenity offered, waiting.

"Ooh! Within the gravity well?" Kyle tried.

Serenity nodded. "Right!"

"So why the points of intersection? If the habitable parts of your kingdom are all on the upper plane and act, together, as some sort of giant megalopolis, why bother with differentiating entire chunks of the kingdom as different planets?" Kyle asked.

"Because not all planets are gas giants. Some have surfaces that can be built upon. Others have moons that can be built upon, but no moons other than Earth's have any points of intersection," Mercury said, enjoying watching them come to terms with all this new information. Turnabout was fair play, wasn't it?

"Okay, so... the points are used as gateways between the upper and base planes, and some parts of your kingdom are built on the base plane, while the rest is all one big city on the upper plane?" Matt tried.

"Yes and no. The upper plane is habitable. But it's not fully developed. There are large sections of land that are uninhabited. And just because you can breathe there doesn't mean you'd want to live there," Serenity elaborated.

"So... Each planet is like a city, then?" Kyle wondered out loud.

"Yes. But remember; only the gas giants are cities on the upper plane only. Mercury, Venus and Mars are all populated planets on the base plane. And even the gas giants have habitats on their moons," Serenity detailed, seeing that both of them seemed to have gotten the geography lesson.

"Alright... I... well, no, I can't see that. But I can pretend. And after sleeping on it for a bit, I'm pretty sure I can wrap my head around it," Kyle muttered.

"It will come to you in time. As you get used to traveling, your mind will map it out. But as we were saying before; travel in the Kingdom-" Serenity started to say, before Kyle cut her off.

"Point to point teleportation that only works on the base plane, from intersection point to intersection point."

Serenity blinked, before nodding. "That's right. How?"

"Well, it's not that hard, once the system is explained," Matt said, before frowning. "And it would explain some of the need for us. If the Senshi are pre-occupied on one planet, they'd have to travel from their location, to a teleport point, then 'port to the target planet, and move to the location of the problem."

"Which is what we'd have to do, too... Leaving me to wonder how we could do it faster," Kyle said, looking at Serenity with a slight frown.

"There's more to it, though you're essentially correct. The enemy tends to disable the points closest to their location during an attack, so the senshi go to the nearest usable point, and usually have to run from there."

"And... we're supposed to do that as well? Even if we take off immediately, and the senshi are forced to wait before leaving whatever they're in the middle of, I can't see the arrival time being that different," Kyle said, frowning at another thought. Before he could voice it, Matt did.

"Even worse, once we're established on Mimas or wherever, the enemy would just have to close off the Saturn portal and we'd be stuck running to Jupiter or Uranus just to get back in the loop."

Serenity frowned herself at that. "Why would you be on Mimas?"

"Because we'd be based there?" Kyle explained, earning a glare from the assembled Senshi at the condescension in his voice.

Serenity's frown intensified, but not at his tone. "I wouldn't think you'd keep all your people in one location. I assumed you meant you'd train them on Mimas before sending them out and having a small team on each planet."

Kyle shrugged, "We could do that, but when there's nothing going on, I'd prefer to be there at first to help... 'direct them' in filling up their free time with something productive."

"Why not use the ship?" Matt asked, suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Lenee asked, glancing over at the ship in question.

"Well, if every planet, inner and outer, has a presence on some way on the base plane, and teleportation only works on the base plane anyway, then if the ship teleports from planet to planet, on the base plane, then we should be able to stay on Mimas, and still get to the problem area in less time than the Senshi," he elaborated, earning a surprised look from Kyle. "What? Didn't think I was paying attention?"

"No?" Kyle replied, his voice indicating he had thought exactly that.

Mercury, however, shook her head. "It wouldn't work. The enemy knocks out the teleporters, and even then, that thing is far too big to use them."

"Who said anything about using the point-based teleporters?" Kyle asked, getting behind Matt's idea.

"There's no mage in the kingdom that would try teleporting that thing from planet to planet!" Uranus cried, pointing at the sub in disbelief.

"It's a nuclear sub. Surely you have the magic to convert electricity to mana. Even at a bad conversion rate, I refuse to believe there's not enough power there to make it work," Kyle responded.

Mercury just sighed and pulled up her spell again, once more waiting for it to give her an idea as to how much power the ship might have to spare. What it detailed was somewhat shocking. Unless it was far less efficient than her spell predicted, it would have quite a bit of power to spare. "There... Might actually be enough in there," she muttered, before altering the spell slightly. After a few more pages of details, proposals, and projections, she dismissed the ephemeral paper. "At best, you're still looking at a three-day charge-up. Maybe less if we can fit some sort of mana-storage aboard."

Kyle smirked. "Those things were designed to sit underwater until they ran out of food for the crew. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that that could take six months. We're taking that and turning it into an inter-system shuttle. With all the storage space that opens up, I doubt we'll have any trouble fitting in all the mana-storage systems you can think of."

Serenity just smiled. "It's impressive what you can come up with when you work together, isn't it?" She asked, before looking the Senshi over. "Mercury, call your planet, have this ship moved there to be worked on. I want your best people to go over it, and see what they can do to make this plan a reality."

"Ahh, there are... Umm... Zombies on board," Kyle muttered, lamely.

"Zombies?" Serenity asked, deadpan.

"Undead. But not magical in any way!" Matt said.

Serenity sighed, before looking at him. "If the dead are walking, then there's something going on that isn't mundane," she said.

"No, really. I- we've heard of these before," Matt said, pointing at Kyle.

When she turned to look at the rogue, he shrugged. "Typical 'zombie apocalypse' zombies. Trauma to the brain kills them."

"And... how did this happen?" Uranus asked.

"Beats me. I think the popular cause is worms or viruses," Kyle said.

"Worms?" Matt asked.

Kyle nodded. "Yeah. I read a Stephen King story about a comet made up of worms that came too close to Earth and the worms brought the undead to life. Something like that. I think Romero's zombies were raised by radiation, though..." He trailed off in thought, but before he could continue, Serenity spoke up.

"Right. Whatever. _Zombies_. Do you both need to clear them out? Do _I_ need to?" Serenity asked, brandishing the Ginzoishou.

Matt shook his head, drawing his sword and stepping back towards the Sub. "Naw, I've got this. Thing'll be clear before anyone from Mercury gets here." With that he headed back into the sub, turning to give everyone a jaunty wave before he began to climb the side.

"Well, if he says so," Serenity muttered, before turning to Mercury, who was sending off her orders to someone from her home planet. "Mercury, back him up. And see if you can find a way to make those weapons a little less overpowering..."

"What? Like take them out?" Mercury asked, even as she moved to join the paladin.

Serenity shook her head. "'Better to have and not need, than need and not have,'" she quoted, before turning her back on the Knight and Senshi. Mercury nodded at the reasonable response, even as she shuddered at the thought of ever needing anything so powerful.

"Shouldn't I be helping him?" Kyle asked, pointing at the sub, even as Mercury disappeared inside.

Serenity shook her head. "Not quite. _You_ are due on Saturn."

"What?" Kyle and Lenee asked simultaneously.

Serenity chuckled. "Well, it would be difficult to pinpoint a location for your base without looking Mimas over. And you can hardly do that from here," she said to Kyle, before turning to Queen Saturn. "As for you, my friend..."

"Yes, Highness?" Lenee asked.

"I will be on Saturn within a day, perhaps two, depending on events. When I arrive, I will need my friend here, as well as a private room with... hmm..." She paused, looking Kyle over speculatively, before nodding to herself. "Lets say level seven arcane protections."

"Level seven?" Jupiter asked, with some alarm.

"Yes. Seven should be more than enough," Serenity said, before turning to Jupiter and Uranus. "And as for you two, I'm pretty sure you're capable of figuring out where you're needed." She paused, then, before grinning. "Ah, and don't tell Venus about this just yet. I'm looking forward to surprising her with Matt in a few days."

"Why her?" Jupiter asked.

"Why Matt?" Uranus asked.

Serenity grinned. "Well, he is the Inner Knight, isn't he? Best to introduce him to the leader of the inner Senshi myself, don't you think?"

Jupiter rolled her eyes, even as Uranus muttered "She's going to go crazy over him."

"Well of course she will," Jupiter replied, "he's a guy."

Uranus frowned. "Does that mean you're going to introduce Kyle to Pluto, too?" she asked. Then she smiled. "Because, I'd kind of like to be there when you do."

Serenity returned the Senshi's smile with one of her own. "I'm sure that can be arranged."


End file.
